A 14-year-old boy in Manatee County, Florida, recently became living proof that miracles happen. After he survived a fishing accident that left him with a boat anchor lodged in his head, the teenager says he knows he had a close call, but God was watching out for him.
Back in March, Caleb Bennett was out on the water fishing with his brother and a group of their friends, when the boat’s raised anchor suddenly swung towards them, striking Caleb in the head.
“The anchor had slipped off the boat and it went into the water and was slingshot back into the boat where it penetrated Caleb’s right frontal lobe 2.78 inches,” his mother Kelli told WFLA.
Stunned, but calm, the teenager refused to panic. Instead, he carefully instructed his friends to call for help, knowing that the situation could become deadly at any moment.
“I didn’t want to pull it out because I thought it might bleed more,” he said. “Eventually, it fell out and then I put pressure on it and held my head up. I just stayed calm. I told my friend, ‘Hey, you need to call 911 or I’m going to die.’”
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After blacking out, Caleb woke up in a hospital bed to find out that he had been airlifted to a hospital for emergency brain surgery, with doctors doubting that he would ever be able to walk or speak again.
Surgeons performed a partial craniotomy and placed him in a medically-induced coma which likely saved his life.
“We needed to take out a big piece of skull try to take out the pieces of bone and whatever else he had in there from the anchor,” Luis Rodriguez, a pediatric neurological surgeon at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, said in a news release. “And more important, give his brain space to swell because that’s what was going to happen.”
His parents told WFLA that they were grateful their son was alive, but still expected the worst. With such a traumatic injury, it didn’t seem possible that he could ever return to normal.
The couple had been celebrating their wedding anniversary in the Bahamas when they received the phone call with news of the accident and immediately rushed home.
“When I first saw Caleb, I thought I was going to be sick,” Kelli Bennett said. “It’s very hard to see your kid hooked up to every tube, to see that stand with seven to 12 different medicines going in his body.”
“Needless to say, I kind of lost it,” she told CNN.
However, after his treatment, the teenager appeared to be functioning fine — in fact, much better than anyone had believed possible.
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Scans revealed that the anchor had miraculously avoided any of the critical blood vessels that might have caused severe damage.
“It’s a real modern-day miracle that I am alive,” Caleb told WFLA.
Rodriguez continued in the news release, “I’ve seen arrows through and through [the head]. I’ve seen bullets through and through [the head]. I’ve seen things like this, but I’ve never seen an anchor, number one, and number two, I’ve never seen anybody with an injury like that walk out of the hospital almost completely neurologically intact. That’s one in a million.”
“He should’ve died right where he stood,” Caleb’s father, Rick Bennett said. “Even if this is our cross to bear for a while or indefinitely, it’s better than the alternative.”
As more time passed and the 14-year-old continued to heal, the family began to celebrate the incredible recovery, thanking their community for all the support they had been shown.
“We are so thankful for, I call it our people, here in Bradenton that just have surrounded us and loved us,” Kelli Bennett said. Caleb’s fellow fishermen in the area held a special fundraiser to gather money for medical bills, and friends and neighbors flooded in to bring food and prayers for a quick recovery.
Now, the miracle continues as the teenager grows stronger each day. Though still in need of additional treatment, Caleb says he knows he wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t part of God’s plan.
“I shouldn’t be standing here today. God definitely has a plan in my life.”
He added that the experience has definitely been surreal.
“I can’t believe I had an anchor in my head. Like, that’s pretty crazy. My friends now call me the ‘Anchorman’ so that’s kind of cool.”
As for fishing, he says nothing could ever persuade him to give it up.
“I still love fishing,” the teen declared. “Nothing will ever change that.”
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via The Western Journal
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