The surgeon who removed a harpoon bolt from a 14-year-old British boy’s head after he fired it at himself while in Italy has said the ‘very lucky boy’ should make a full recovery.
Devon White, from Chelmsford in Essex, was carrying the weapon while travelling in a boat with his family in Sperlonga, near Rome, when it went crashing into his left eye at 60mph.
Paramedics treated him at the scene before he was airlifted 100 miles to San Camillo hospital in Rome and had the bolt removed in a gruesome three-hour procedure.
Devon White, from Chelmsford in Essex, was carrying the weapon while travelling in a boat with his family in Sperlonga, near Rome, when it went crashing into his left eye at 60mph. Pictured: The bolt lodged in his skull
Now, as the first pictures showing Devon’s injuries have been released, surgeon Professor Alberto Delitala has said the boy may even retain sight in the eye
Paramedics treated him at the scene before he was airlifted 100 miles to San Camillo hospital in Rome and had the bolt (pictured) removed in a gruesome three-hour procedure
Now, as the first pictures showing Devon’s injuries have been released, surgeon Professor Alberto Delitala has told The Sun the boy may even retain sight in the eye.
‘He doesn’t appear to have suffered brain damage,’ he said, adding: ‘He will remain in an induced coma for a couple of days but we are optimistic he will make a full recovery.’
But Professor Delitala said that in 38 years of performing surgery, he had never seen anything like Devon’s injury.
Astonishingly, the boy remained conscious while the bolt was lodged six inches in his head and spoke calmly with emergency services personnel that came to his aid.
‘He was lucky because it passed through the cavity behind his eye and out through his parietal bone, which is the roof of the skull and protects the brain,’ he said.
The shaft, which was nearly 12 inches long, had to be cut in half by firefighters at the scene.
Devon, Professor Delitala explained, was ‘very brave’ during the procedure.
Doctors previously explained that the weapon had not smashed into vital organs, The Sun on Sunday reported.
Local police chief Salvatore Capasso told the newspaper: ‘It’s a miracle this boy is still alive. I have never seen anything like it.
The British teenager was left fighting for his life after he accidentally harpooned himself through the eye in an Italian holiday horror. Pictured: Medics at the scene
‘The bolt was in his head and he was still alive and talking. I’m amazed he didn’t die.
‘I’ve seen many things during my career but nothing as macabre as that.’
Capasso said the 14-year-old had been on the boat with his uncle, his brother and two friends. The tourists had been firing the weapon at nearby rocks.
He said the weapon had been faulty and had not secured itself properly when it was reloaded, causing the bolt to shoot off into Devon’s face.
Police were investigating the matter because the teenager, from Chelmsford in Essex, was too young to have been handling the Cressi Sioux harpoon, he said.