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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Tuesday, July 10, 2001
Boy, 8, attacked by shark may have brain damage
Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The reattached arm of an 8-year-old boy attacked by a shark is healing well, but he may have brain damage and suffered harm to virtually every organ in his body, a doctor said Monday.
Dr. Rex Northup, a pediatric trauma physician, said Jessie Arbogast arrived at the hospital Friday night with no blood pressure and no pulse and damage to "literally his entire body" because of severe blood loss.
"It's going to be a very tough situation to pull him through," Northup said, but added he was "cautiously optimistic."
"Because of the shark injuries and loss of blood associated with that, his brain did go through a period of time with a very low amount of blood flow," he said. "If we can get another several days behind us where things don't deteriorate, we'll be happy with that."
Jessie, who has been undergoing dialysis since he went into kidney failure Sunday, was in critical but stable condition Monday. He has had six operations since Friday's attack.
"He has done a little bit of a spontaneous eye opening and blinking of his eyes, but at this point is not coherent," Northup said.
Northup said at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital that circulation in the reattached arm and in the boy's gashed leg was good, though Jessie will probably be unable to use the arm for up to 18 months.
The Ocean Springs, Miss., boy was attacked in the surf at the Gulf Islands National Seashore in the Florida Panhandle.
His uncle wrestled the 7-foot bull shark to shore. A ranger then shot the shark four times with a pistol, and pried its jaw open with a police baton. A volunteer firefighter used a clamp to pull the boy's severed arm out of the shark's gullet.
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