On Aug. 1, 8-year-old Kaptain Edge got off a school bus taking him from New Hope Elementary to the high school, where he was supposed to walk into his mother’s classroom. From there, the pair planned to walk home, just across the street from the school.

But when Kaptain got confused after getting off the bus, he attempted to walk across the street and go home by himself. While crossing, he was struck by an SUV, severely damaging his left leg.

His mother, Angie, witnessed the accident from her classroom window.

“I went running to him,” Angie said. “And by the time I got there, the people who immediately stopped on the side of the road and went to Kaptain and talked to him until I could get there so he wasn’t scared — I don’t know who these people are, but I’m so grateful to them.”

First responders arrived soon after, along with Kaptain’s father, Kevin, who was on the school’s football field at the time.

Kaptain was then airlifted to Blair Batson Children’s Hospital at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He underwent several major procedures to repair his leg.

“We’ve seen the video,” Kevin said. “‘My wife saw the accident happen. The fact that we have our son in one piece, that he’s alive, that he’s doing as well as he is, it’s a testimony to the grace and the goodness of God.”

Kevin said Kaptain has been recovering well, and he is currently pain-free, though his leg still cannot bear weight. However, he has 12 to 18 months of recovery ahead of him, along with more minor procedures to help him recover full use of his leg.

Both parents have been entirely focused on Kaptain’s health and well-being ever since and haven’t been focusing on the cost. But friends have been looking out for the Edge family’s financial needs, arranging fundraisers for Kaptain’s growing medical expenses.

“Right from the time that started, we had a friend who reached out and said do y’all care if I set something up?” Kevin said. “And to be honest with you, in that moment, all we could think of was if our son was going to be OK. And we said sure, and that was our extent of being involved in the fundraiser.”

A GoFundMe, set up by a friend, has since raised more than $5,000 on Kaptain’s behalf. But with medical expenses still rolling in, Wilson Beck, current general manager for Coffee Depot and former Zachary’s restaurant general manager, decided to do more.

“My son Avery would ride the bus from the elementary school to the high school, and he was nervous, naturally,” Beck said. “Kaptain was the kid who took Avery under his wing. … Kaptain would do the little things like trade Pokemon cards with him, sit with him, and make him feel comfortable. We thought the world of Kaptain, and then when we heard that he had gotten into this accident, our hearts were already going out to the Edge family.”

With permission from the Edge family, Beck set up “Katfish for Kaptain,” a to-go catfish fundraiser at Zachary’s.

On Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the restaurant will be selling catfish plates for $12 a piece, with all proceeds benefiting the Edges.

“Being able to have the opportunity to take some kind of burden off the family … that’s what we’re working towards with this fundraiser,” Beck said. “We’re very willing and happy and it’s a great honor to be able to do that for them.”

Kevin expressed gratitude for the fundraising efforts, though he said it has not been solicited. The generosity they have witnessed from family, friends, neighbors and more has been completely spontaneous.

“If people want to give, we don’t want to deny them that opportunity and that blessing, but we have not felt compelled to go out and ask for that,” Kevin said. “It’s really cooler in a way that it’s kind of unfolding now because we’re not asking— not necessarily because we couldn’t use it— but we’re not asking and people are just coming out from everywhere to show this kind of generosity in a way that is even more touching and inspiring.”