Kansas boy very lucky to survive knife impaling his face

by The Associated Press

Mon, June 17th 2019 at 4:14 PM

Updated Mon, June 17th 2019 at 4:44 PM

This X-Ray imagery provided by The University of Kansas Health System shows the skull of Eli Gregg with a knife embedded. The 15-year-old Kansas boy is recovering days after doctors removed a 10" knife that impaled his face when he fell while playing. Gregg's harrowing experience began late Thursday, June 13, 2019, when he was playing outside his home in Redfield, about 11 miles from Fort Scott in southeast Kansas. The knife was embedded into his skull, extending to the underside of the brain. The tip of it had indented the carotid artery, the major artery which supplies blood to the brain. Surgeons at The University of Kansas Health System removed it Friday morning. Eli is expected to be able to go home Monday and should recover fully. (The University of Kansas Health System via AP)

This 3D computer graphic model made from X-Ray imagery by The University of Kansas Health System shows how a tip of the knife stopped right on and was pressed against the carotid artery as the X-Ray image shows the skull of Eli Gregg. The 15-year-old Kansas boy is recovering days after doctors removed a 10" knife that impaled his face when he fell while playing. Gregg's harrowing experience began late Thursday, June 13, 2019, when he was playing outside his home in Redfield, about 11 miles from Fort Scott in southeast Kansas. The knife was embedded into his skull, extending to the underside of the brain. The tip of it had indented the carotid artery, the major artery which supplies blood to the brain. Surgeons at The University of Kansas Health System removed it Friday morning. Eli is expected to be able to go home Monday and should recover fully. (The University of Kansas Health System via AP)

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This X-Ray imagery provided by The University of Kansas Health System shows the skull of Eli Gregg with a knife embedded. The 15-year-old Kansas boy is recovering days after doctors removed a 10" knife that impaled his face when he fell while playing. Gregg's harrowing experience began late Thursday, June 13, 2019, when he was playing outside his home in Redfield, about 11 miles from Fort Scott in southeast Kansas. The knife was embedded into his skull, extending to the underside of the brain. The tip of it had indented the carotid artery, the major artery which supplies blood to the brain. Surgeons at The University of Kansas Health System removed it Friday morning. Eli is expected to be able to go home Monday and should recover fully. (The University of Kansas Health System via AP)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 15-year-old Kansas boy got a large knife to the face, and doctors say he's extremely lucky.

Jimmy Russell says her son, Eli Gregg, was playing Thursday outside of their home in Redfield, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Kansas City, when she heard him scream. She found him with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) knife jutting out from below his eye and called 911.

The knife was embedded in his skull and extended to just under his brain. The tip, meanwhile, was pushing against his carotid artery, which supplies the brain with blood.

Dr. Koji Ebersole, who oversaw the blade's extraction, says he doesn't think Eli would have survived if it had stabbed him any harder.

The surgery was successful and Eli was due to be discharged Monday.

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