Lowndes Middle coach suffers burns in accident…UPDATE

VALDOSTA — Ed Mitchell, a coach at Lowndes Middle School, suffered second- and third-degree burns in a cooking accident at his house on Saturday.

Mitchell was airlifted to a burn center in Augusta on Saturday night, and had surgery on Sunday morning.

On Saturday, Mitchell was cooking food in his kitchen and left the room briefly. When he came back, he saw smoke coming from a pan on the stove. He took the pan off the stove and tried to move it.

But while he was removing the pan, grease fell on him and burned him.

He wound up with burns on his left hand, left knee and right foot and ankle.

“He had surgery this morning,” said Lowndes Middle athletic director and head football coach Steve Holley on Sunday. “(He) was in pretty good spirits this afternoon about 3 (or) 4 o’clock. … I spoke with him this afternoon at the hospital in Augusta. He seemed to think everything went OK. It’s kind of touch and go with how his toes respond to the surgery, I guess. He said that was going to be the key was how his feet responded to the surgery today.”

“He sounded good, was feeling good and upbeat,” Holley added.

Mitchell is a parapro at Lowndes Middle School. He also coaches three sports. He is the head coach of the seventh grade boys basketball team and the boys track team and the secondary coach for the football team. He is in his fourth season coaching at LMS.

“He does a great job (and) does a great job with the kids. Very good motivator,” Holley said.

Mitchell also coaches at the Valdosta Boys and Girls Club.

“He’s a big asset to our program at Lowndes Middle and a big asset to the community, in regards to his work with the Boys and Girls Club,” Holley said. “If you ask Ed, he’ll say he does it all for the kids. He’s kid-oriented, and all his actions are kid-based. He spends a lot of time with our kids in the offseason, conditioning and working on agility and things of that nature.”

“He’s a special coach — and a good person,” Holley added.