Most seriously injured child recovering

LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

LOS ANGELES - The youngest and most gravely injured victim of the attack at the North Valley Jewish Community Center underwent a second round of surgery for gunshot wounds Wednesday but was fighting back to health.

The 5-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, is listed in critical condition. He remained on a ventilator and under sedation in the pediatric intensive care unit at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, but was alert and responsive when awake, said hospital spokesman Steve Rutledge.

"He is doing as well as we could hope for at this point in time and we just have to be patient and see how he responds to the injury," said Greg Tiao, the chief surgical resident at Childrens Hospital.

The boy was struck by bullets to the hip and thigh when a lone gunmen burst into the center and blasted a room full of children with about 70 gunshots. Washington resident Buford O'Neal Furrow Jr., 39, admitted to the rampage when he surrendered Wednesday morning in Las Vegas, authorities said.

The 5-year-old boy was transferred to Childrens Hospital shortly before midnight Tuesday after six hours of surgery at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center to repair damage to his upper and lower intestines caused by a bullet that tore through his hip and into his abdomen.

Doctors said Wednesday he was recovering well.

"His heart is working well, his breathing numbers are good, his kidney function is good," Tiao said. "So those are some of the things we look for in the acute, immediate phase after surgery."

Doctors operated on the boy for about 45 minutes Wednesday, installing four steel pins in his shattered left thigh bone, said orthopedic surgeon Richard Reynolds.

He said the leg should heal in 12 to 16 weeks, after which doctors will remove the pins. He said the boy should recover full use of his leg.

Tiao said doctors hope to ease him off the ventilator and allow him to resume eating in the coming days, but are still guarding closely against potential infections from the gunshot wounds.

Another gunshot victim, 6-year-old Joshua Stepakoff, was airlifted to Childrens Hospital on Tuesday after suffering gunshot wounds to his hip and left calf. The bullet to his hip lodged beneath the skin and was removed in the emergency room Tuesday, and doctors fitted his leg with a walking cast.

He was listed in good condition Wednesday.

"He is getting into the mode of walking with support and is starting to eat," said Tiao, who said the boy was being held for antibiotic treatment and would likely be released within days.

The families of both boys declined to comment directly, but Stepakoff's parents issued a written statement through the hospital, acknowledging the widespread concern for their son.

"We want to thank everyone for their prayer's and encouragement," they stated.

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