Missouri boy "Miracle" survives after head of meat skewer has fallen

A 10-year-old Missouri boy, whose skull was pierced with a meat skewer after falling from a hut while he was fighting a swarm of wasps, should recover completely from what that his father called a "miracle".

Xavier Cunningham was playing with friends behind his home in western Missouri when a swarm of yellow jackets attacked them. Cunningham panicked, falling from the cabin and coming face to face in a metal roasting spit that the boys had found and planted in the ground to avoid stepping on, Cunningham's father, Shannon Miller, told NBC News.

"He was more concerned about yellow jackets than with the skewer," said Miller.

The skewer crossed Xavier's face up to the back of his head. He then ran inside to his mother, who immediately brought her to the hospital.

Xavier was finally found at the University of Kansas Hospital, where Dr. Koji Ebersole assessed the trajectory of the skewer, which somehow bypassed the eyes, the brain, and the eyes. Xavier's main blood vessels.

"I was amazed that he was alive, let alone awake and talking," said Ebersole, director of hospital endovascular neurosurgery, in a video posted on the YouTube channel. of the health system of the University of Kansas.

Ebersol said that the skewer had managed to get rid of two vital blood vessels when she had pierced Xavier's head. The trajectory of the bar "is essentially one in a million," said Ebersol. "I can not believe that."

The unlikely path that the kebab has taken has allowed Ebersol to bring together a team of about 100 people and develop a plan to remove it. But Xavier was not out of the wood yet.

The square skewer had a button at the end, which could have damaged both of these ships at the exit, Ebersol said. In addition, the skewer had penetrated the muscle of Xavier's jaw, preventing him from opening his mouth for a breathing tube during surgery.

The massive medical team, however, devised a plan and managed to remove the skewer without any further damage.

"What's impressive about this story is how this thing could cross so deeply this part of the body and not touch anything critical," Ebersol said. "I do not know how that kid could be so lucky."

Xavier is expected to be released from the hospital this week, his father told NBC News.

"He's back to his very identity, I look forward to church, football and school," Miller said. "It's nothing short of a miracle."