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American Morning
Brain Damage is Doctors Biggest Worry for Jessie Arbogast
Aired July 10, 2001 - 09:14 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And now to the latest on the 8-year-old boy whose arm was torn off by a shark. Doctors say that possible brain damage is the biggest worry now for little Jessie Arbogast. He is fighting for his life at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, and that's where we find our national correspondent Brian Cabell who is live at the hospital.
And, Brian, our viewers who were with us at the top of the hour got to hear a live update from doctors there.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the bottom line from that update on Jessie Arbogast, Daryn, is that really there was no change overnight. He spent a fairly stable night, Jessie did. No sign of infection yet, which is a good sign. We've been warned there might be some sudden setbacks this first week, so far they have not had those so that's good news.
As for the arm and the leg, those are both doing well. But as you indicate, the primary concern has been from the very start the brain, the possible damage to the brain and possible swelling of the brain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. REX NORTHUP, SACRED HEART CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: The difference between the brain and essentially every other organ in the body, if you, as he has done, have his arm injured and it swells, the skin around the arm can stretch. The skin around the wound on his leg can stretch. Other types of injuries into his abdomen or those types of things, the skin gives.
The uniqueness of the brain is that it is inside the skull which is a closed box and there is no room for any give or any stretch with that. So what happens as the brain swells, which unique to the brain and unlike these other organs, is that if that swelling is excessive, the pressure inside the skull will rise. And if that pressure rises higher then his blood pressure, then the blood flow to the brain stops and at that point in time, we lose him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABELL: Doctors say Jessie remains unconscious at this point. They liken it to a sleep state. As for his parents, they are here, and they say for the first time last night, they got a good rest. They are looking pretty good this morning.
The emergency operation center (ph) has already released 911 tapes. We show you one right now. It is from the uncle -- the uncle who managed to wrest the boy to shore and also managed to wrest the shark to shore. Here's his 911 tape that night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSIE ARBOGAST'S UNCLE: Both the right arm and right leg are gone.
911 OPERATOR: They're completely gone?
UNCLE: Completely gone. He's lost a lot of blood.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNCLE: We need a life helicopter out here or something like that.
911 OPERATOR: OK, we've got a LifeFlight and it's going. You are saying that both the right arm and right leg are gone?
UNCLE: They are. They are. We've got them tied off, but he's not bleeding any more.
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. We've got the ambulance and the fire department and the LifeFlight going to be en route. The others are already en route, but we are sending a LifeFlight, OK?
Is he breathing?
UNCLE: He wasn't breathing and he didn't have a pulse a minute ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABELL: Again that's the 911 call made by the boy's uncle Friday night shortly after the attack.
Again, the bottom line here is Jessie is doing well. We asked the doctors when might this critical period be over with? He said perhaps by Friday, a week after this trauma, then they might start to breath a little more easily then the worst of it -- times could be over, then they will feel better about this boy's survivability.
I'm Brian Cabell, CNN live, in Pensacola, Florida.
KAGAN: Brian, thank you very much.
And little Jessie Arbogast was attacked by a bull shark. Coming up in the next hour, we're going to talk with a shark expert, tell us more about these type of sharks that he says can be more dangerous than the great white. That's next hour here on CNN LIVE THIS MORNING.
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