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CNN Live At Daybreak

Doctor Discusses Boy Brought Back to Life After Shark Attack

Aired July 09, 2001 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: An eight-year old boy brought back from the brink of death after a shark attack has a new medical worry. Just after having his arm reattached, the Mississippi boy suffered kidney failure. Right now, he is in critical condition. He has been moved to another hospital in Pensacola and is undergoing kidney dialysis.

CNN's Brian Cabell is following developments from there -- Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I think the word is that doctors now are cautiously optimistic about the fate of Jessie Arbogast, the eight-year old Mississippi boy, who was attacked on Friday evening. He is unconscious, but he has shown signs of consciousness over the weekend. We are told on the flight that he took from one hospital to another yesterday he had his eyes open. He has also blinked a couple of times, in response to some signals from his parents.

So there is some hope here, but as you indicate there has been some kidney failure. Dialysis is needed right now. So they are monitoring him, after 11 hours of surgery on Friday night.

One of the doctors involved in this 11 hours of surgery with me right now, Dr. Juliet DeCampos -- you saw the young boy yesterday. What was his condition yesterday?

DR. JULIET DECAMPOS, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: His condition was critical as he was coming off the dialysis machine. He was on the ventilator, and actually looked like he was peacefully sleeping. His arm looks fine. You couldn't tell anything from looking at his fingertips, because they are pink and warm. And his leg, of course, is bandaged.

CABELL: Would you say his life is in jeopardy at this point?

DECAMPOS: Whenever a kid is critically ill, then they are day to day.

CABELL: What was your involvement in the surgery on Friday night/Saturday morning?

DECAMPOS: As the orthopedic surgeon, I met the trauma team in the operating room and evaluated the limb that had been amputated, as well as the large bite wound on the leg, and then I mechanically reattached the part that was amputated to the part that was still on him, with a plate and screws, to form a base for the vascular surgeon and the microvascular surgeon to put the blood supply and the nerves back together.

CABELL: What kind of use will he get out of this arm, do you suppose?

DECAMPOS: If he makes a recovery with respect to his medical condition, he should have function of the arm. It won't reject, because it's not a transplant; it's his own arm. It depends on how much physiotherapy he has and he needs, and whether the blood supply stays intact.

CABELL: How unusual is this? His arm was severed. It was wrapped in towels and ice, we are told, and driven by ambulance. How unusual is it to get an arm like that sometime later?

DECAMPOS: It's extremely unusual to get a viable shark bite amputation because sharks usually crush the part. And the fact that this was a clean wound is remarkable.

CABELL: Thank you very much, Dr. DeCampos.

DECAMPOS: Thank you.

CABELL: Once again, the boy is resting right now. He is unconscious, but there are signs of consciousness. Doctors are watching. Of course, the family is watching, as well.

I am Brian Cabell, CNN, live in Pensacola, Florida.

LIN: Thank you, Brian.

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