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American Morning
Interview with Martin Eichelberger
Aired October 08, 2002 - 07:32 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to the Washington, D.C. area quickly. Stay by your children's side, that is the plea to parents this morning from Maryland law enforcement officials after a 14-year-old boy became the latest victim of a sniper yesterday morning. He was outside his school in Bowie, Maryland, a middle school, after his aunt dropped him off yesterday. Police say that shooting is linked to others in the series of eight Washington area sniper shootings. The boy quickly airlifted to Children's Medical Center in Washington, where his spleen and parts of his stomach and pancreas were taken out.
Dr. Martin Eichelberger is the boy's surgeon. He's live with us this morning in D.C.
Doctor, good morning to you.
Wish we could talk on other terms, certainly. The condition on the boy today is what, sir?
DR. MARTIN EICHELBERGER, SHOOTING VICTIM'S SIGNIFICANT: Good morning. How are you?
I'm glad to report that this young man has gotten through the last 16 hours in stable condition, continuing to respond quite nicely to all of the things that we've been doing for him. His heart and lungs are working well and we're really encouraged that he's made it this far with reasonable progress.
HEMMER: Will he make a full recovery, Doctor?
EICHELBERGER: Well, that's really hard to say. I'm guardedly optimistic that this youngster is going to continue on this track. But there's so many things that can occur when you this kind of a severe injury. But he has gotten through the first eight hours, which I think is really a cardinal sign that he's on the mend.
We have a lot of, we still have a lot of work to do and he's got a lot of challenges to face. But I think at least we've gotten through that first series of traumatic injuries that he sustained.
HEMMER: Doctor, the bullet used in this case is vicious. It is large and one can imagine what it does to a grown adult. What kind of damage has it done to this 13-year-old boy? We mentioned a few things, but, again, you know it much better than we do.
EICHELBERGER: Well, this youngster unfortunately sustained a gunshot wound to his upper left torso and by hitting this upper portion, there are a lot of organs in that region, the liver, the spleen, the pancreas, the stomach, the diaphragm and also the lungs. So that these are, all these organs were injured yesterday. And the biggest problem you have is there's a significant amount of bleeding that occurs.
So we were able to at least stop the bleeding in a way that, hopefully that'll help him use his own systems to really recover. We're encouraged but very guarded in what we look forward to over the next 24 hours.
HEMMER: I heard a comment yesterday afternoon, I think it was from you, in fact. Normally in cases like these you do not go in and necessarily retrieve the bullet and turn it over to investigators. In this case you did. Why is it normally that you would not do something like that?
EICHELBERGER: Well, that's correct. We usually don't go looking for a foreign body or a bullet like that because it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Many times these bullets don't cause any problems, yet they've already caused the major injury to the patient. So we were really there to save the child's life. We really weren't there looking for anything other than making sure that he was going to be with us.
But because of the special situation and the occurrence that we have in our community right now, we thought it was prudent, if it was safe for the child, to see if we could extract this foreign body. And fortunately it was in a position that didn't require much from us and less from him. So we were able to retrieve it without too much difficulty.
HEMMER: His aunt was with him. She's a trained nurse. Did some of her reactions help save his life?
EICHELBERGER: Well, I think everybody that had anything to do with this youngster's care yesterday had a significant impact on him. I think from the time that he was injured to the time that the physicians and the urgent care center were able to render care to him, getting him here with all of the police services that brought him here, the Maryland State Police that helicoptered him here. It's a huge effort to save this youngster's life and I think it's not one person that makes a difference here, it's a whole team of people that have had an impact. And there's a lot of luck involved, too. And we feel quite fortunate and humbled by the fact that he's still with us today.
HEMMER: Good luck to your team, OK, Doctor?
And thanks for your time today.
Martin Eichelberger there in Washington -- Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Bill.
And joining us now from Bowie, Maryland, a friend and schoolmate of the shooting victim, Gerald Caver, Jr., and his father, Gerald Caver, Sr.
Welcome to both of you.
Thank you very much for joining us today.
So, Gerald, Jr., do you plan to go to school today?
GERALD CAVER, JR., SCHOOLMATE OF VICTIM: Yes.
ZAHN: Are you nervous about returning?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: No, I'm not nervous because we've got police here, everywhere here to protect us.
ZAHN: Take us back to yesterday. Where were you when you heard the shots fired?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: I was on my bus coming to the school.
ZAHN: And what did it look like when you got to the parking lot?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: It was just, it looked like a crime scene, all these police, an ambulance and all the people there.
ZAHN: Were kids panicking?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes.
ZAHN: With very good reason.
Gerald, Sr., you actually had dropped your son off and were listening to the radio when you heard about the shooting. Describe to us what happened next.
GERALD CAVER, SR., PARENT: I didn't drop him off. He caught the bus to school. And as I was riding past the school on my way to work I saw the police all on the school grounds. I started to stop but then I said no, so many police over there. So I continued on Route 50. And I heard on the radio that someone had shot and as I was starting to turn around, my wife called me. And she said no, it wasn't our son because he caught the bus and they said that the parent or guardian had dropped -- drove the child to the hospital.
ZAHN: So how many minutes of fear did your wife have as she waited for that information to make sure it wasn't your own son who had been shot?
GERALD CAVER, SR.: I think it was...
ZAHN: It must have seemed like eternity.
GERALD CAVER, SR.: Yes. She said it was about five minutes, but it seemed like eternity.
ZAHN: Are you comfortable having your son back in school today? GERALD CAVER, SR.: Yes. At first I was a little hesitant, but I have all the confidence in the Prince Georges County police, Montgomery County, as well as D.C. and the federal agencies that are here and I think that he will be safe.
ZAHN: I know a lot of parents have the same confidence that you do in these authorities that'll be on duty there. Nevertheless, describe to us what the sense of fear must be like for all of you who've made this decision to send your kid back to school.
GERALD CAVER, SR.: It's tough, but he assured us that -- he has been the strong person in the family to assure us that we can't live in fear. And we can't live in fear. But at the same time we must be careful.
ZAHN: Gerald, Jr., going back to what happened yesterday, did you know the young man who was shot?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes.
ZAHN: Are you in classes with him?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes, I have two classes with him.
ZAHN: Can you tell us anything about him?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: He was a nice outgoing young man. He always did his work. He always did what he was supposed to do.
ZAHN: And what do you expect that you and the teachers will be talking about today? Are you trying to get as far away from this story as possible or do you expect that it will be important for you all to spend some time with teachers in the school to talk about what happened?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes, I think it's important for us to spend time with the teachers so we can get a better understanding of what happened and how to prevent it next time.
ZAHN: Well, we hope you have some peace at school today.
Gerald, Jr., thank you very much for your time this morning. And Gerald, Sr., you, as well.
GERALD CAVER, SR.: You're welcome.
GERALD CAVER, JR.: You're welcome.
ZAHN: Good luck to your family. Good luck to your school and your community.
GERALD CAVER, JR.: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 8, 2002 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to the Washington, D.C. area quickly. Stay by your children's side, that is the plea to parents this morning from Maryland law enforcement officials after a 14-year-old boy became the latest victim of a sniper yesterday morning. He was outside his school in Bowie, Maryland, a middle school, after his aunt dropped him off yesterday. Police say that shooting is linked to others in the series of eight Washington area sniper shootings. The boy quickly airlifted to Children's Medical Center in Washington, where his spleen and parts of his stomach and pancreas were taken out.
Dr. Martin Eichelberger is the boy's surgeon. He's live with us this morning in D.C.
Doctor, good morning to you.
Wish we could talk on other terms, certainly. The condition on the boy today is what, sir?
DR. MARTIN EICHELBERGER, SHOOTING VICTIM'S SIGNIFICANT: Good morning. How are you?
I'm glad to report that this young man has gotten through the last 16 hours in stable condition, continuing to respond quite nicely to all of the things that we've been doing for him. His heart and lungs are working well and we're really encouraged that he's made it this far with reasonable progress.
HEMMER: Will he make a full recovery, Doctor?
EICHELBERGER: Well, that's really hard to say. I'm guardedly optimistic that this youngster is going to continue on this track. But there's so many things that can occur when you this kind of a severe injury. But he has gotten through the first eight hours, which I think is really a cardinal sign that he's on the mend.
We have a lot of, we still have a lot of work to do and he's got a lot of challenges to face. But I think at least we've gotten through that first series of traumatic injuries that he sustained.
HEMMER: Doctor, the bullet used in this case is vicious. It is large and one can imagine what it does to a grown adult. What kind of damage has it done to this 13-year-old boy? We mentioned a few things, but, again, you know it much better than we do.
EICHELBERGER: Well, this youngster unfortunately sustained a gunshot wound to his upper left torso and by hitting this upper portion, there are a lot of organs in that region, the liver, the spleen, the pancreas, the stomach, the diaphragm and also the lungs. So that these are, all these organs were injured yesterday. And the biggest problem you have is there's a significant amount of bleeding that occurs.
So we were able to at least stop the bleeding in a way that, hopefully that'll help him use his own systems to really recover. We're encouraged but very guarded in what we look forward to over the next 24 hours.
HEMMER: I heard a comment yesterday afternoon, I think it was from you, in fact. Normally in cases like these you do not go in and necessarily retrieve the bullet and turn it over to investigators. In this case you did. Why is it normally that you would not do something like that?
EICHELBERGER: Well, that's correct. We usually don't go looking for a foreign body or a bullet like that because it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Many times these bullets don't cause any problems, yet they've already caused the major injury to the patient. So we were really there to save the child's life. We really weren't there looking for anything other than making sure that he was going to be with us.
But because of the special situation and the occurrence that we have in our community right now, we thought it was prudent, if it was safe for the child, to see if we could extract this foreign body. And fortunately it was in a position that didn't require much from us and less from him. So we were able to retrieve it without too much difficulty.
HEMMER: His aunt was with him. She's a trained nurse. Did some of her reactions help save his life?
EICHELBERGER: Well, I think everybody that had anything to do with this youngster's care yesterday had a significant impact on him. I think from the time that he was injured to the time that the physicians and the urgent care center were able to render care to him, getting him here with all of the police services that brought him here, the Maryland State Police that helicoptered him here. It's a huge effort to save this youngster's life and I think it's not one person that makes a difference here, it's a whole team of people that have had an impact. And there's a lot of luck involved, too. And we feel quite fortunate and humbled by the fact that he's still with us today.
HEMMER: Good luck to your team, OK, Doctor?
And thanks for your time today.
Martin Eichelberger there in Washington -- Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Bill.
And joining us now from Bowie, Maryland, a friend and schoolmate of the shooting victim, Gerald Caver, Jr., and his father, Gerald Caver, Sr.
Welcome to both of you.
Thank you very much for joining us today.
So, Gerald, Jr., do you plan to go to school today?
GERALD CAVER, JR., SCHOOLMATE OF VICTIM: Yes.
ZAHN: Are you nervous about returning?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: No, I'm not nervous because we've got police here, everywhere here to protect us.
ZAHN: Take us back to yesterday. Where were you when you heard the shots fired?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: I was on my bus coming to the school.
ZAHN: And what did it look like when you got to the parking lot?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: It was just, it looked like a crime scene, all these police, an ambulance and all the people there.
ZAHN: Were kids panicking?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes.
ZAHN: With very good reason.
Gerald, Sr., you actually had dropped your son off and were listening to the radio when you heard about the shooting. Describe to us what happened next.
GERALD CAVER, SR., PARENT: I didn't drop him off. He caught the bus to school. And as I was riding past the school on my way to work I saw the police all on the school grounds. I started to stop but then I said no, so many police over there. So I continued on Route 50. And I heard on the radio that someone had shot and as I was starting to turn around, my wife called me. And she said no, it wasn't our son because he caught the bus and they said that the parent or guardian had dropped -- drove the child to the hospital.
ZAHN: So how many minutes of fear did your wife have as she waited for that information to make sure it wasn't your own son who had been shot?
GERALD CAVER, SR.: I think it was...
ZAHN: It must have seemed like eternity.
GERALD CAVER, SR.: Yes. She said it was about five minutes, but it seemed like eternity.
ZAHN: Are you comfortable having your son back in school today? GERALD CAVER, SR.: Yes. At first I was a little hesitant, but I have all the confidence in the Prince Georges County police, Montgomery County, as well as D.C. and the federal agencies that are here and I think that he will be safe.
ZAHN: I know a lot of parents have the same confidence that you do in these authorities that'll be on duty there. Nevertheless, describe to us what the sense of fear must be like for all of you who've made this decision to send your kid back to school.
GERALD CAVER, SR.: It's tough, but he assured us that -- he has been the strong person in the family to assure us that we can't live in fear. And we can't live in fear. But at the same time we must be careful.
ZAHN: Gerald, Jr., going back to what happened yesterday, did you know the young man who was shot?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes.
ZAHN: Are you in classes with him?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes, I have two classes with him.
ZAHN: Can you tell us anything about him?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: He was a nice outgoing young man. He always did his work. He always did what he was supposed to do.
ZAHN: And what do you expect that you and the teachers will be talking about today? Are you trying to get as far away from this story as possible or do you expect that it will be important for you all to spend some time with teachers in the school to talk about what happened?
GERALD CAVER, JR.: Yes, I think it's important for us to spend time with the teachers so we can get a better understanding of what happened and how to prevent it next time.
ZAHN: Well, we hope you have some peace at school today.
Gerald, Jr., thank you very much for your time this morning. And Gerald, Sr., you, as well.
GERALD CAVER, SR.: You're welcome.
GERALD CAVER, JR.: You're welcome.
ZAHN: Good luck to your family. Good luck to your school and your community.
GERALD CAVER, JR.: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
