"He's got some healing to do, but he's out of danger for the most part," his mom said.
This teen is lucky to be alive after a 10-inch knife impaled his face when he fell while playing outside.
Eli Gregg was playing outside with some other kids Saturday evening while his mom, Jimmy Russell, was inside cooking dinner in their Bourbon County, Kansas, home. Russell said she could hear them outside doing what normal kids do, running around and such.
She heard Eli let out a scream, but his mom initially didn't think much of it, because he had been playing.
"He came to the door, and when he opened the door, it was blood and he had a piece of metal in his face. And it was really shocking," Russell said.
She thought at first that Eli had been struck with a metal rod, but as he walked closer to her, she realized what exactly it was.
"I could see it looked like a knife handle," she said.
Russell stayed calm and immediately got help.
"It was instant, ya know, I was like, 'Oh my God, call 911, this is bad," she said.
Russell still isn't sure how Eli was impaled by the blade, but she said it "was scary" and "looked pretty grim."
The knife became embedded in Eli's skull, with the tip right up on his carotid artery. "It could not have had a pound more force on it and him survive that event," Dr. Koji Ebersole said.
Because of Eli's trauma and the extent of his injury, he was rushed to University of Kansas Health System. There was the possibility of stroke for Eli, and him losing sight in one eye. But doctors wouldn't know his fate until they were able to get the blade out of his head.
Thankfully, doctors were able to smoothly remove the knife and Eli is now on the mend less than 24 hours later. He's awake and talking to his mom.
"It's almost a miracle, it's amazing," Russell said. "How it happened was one in a million."
She said her boy is "doing great" and "should make a full recovery." And Eli is "gonna stay away from sharp objects" now.
"He's got some healing to do, but he's out of danger for the most part," Russell said.
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