Miracle Kids

Tyler

Boys Will Be Boys

An afternoon playing in the yard took a disastrous turn for 8 year-old Tyler Lea of Copperas Cove, after a 12 foot collapsible tent pole became lodged in his left eye.

Copperas Cove Fire Department paramedics called for a helicopter and Tyler was flown to Scott & White in Temple, which has the only Level 1 Trauma Center  between San Antonio and Dallas.

Pediatric surgeon Dr. Danny Custer immediately called for a team of pediatric specialists as he prepared Tyler for surgery. The anesthesiologist, neurologist, ophthalmologist and plastic surgeon met Dr. Custer in the operating room to review the X-rays of Tyler's injury.

The pole was embedded 10 centimeters beyond his eye socket, but had not pierced his brain. It had punctured the thin bone that cradles the eyeball and stopped inside the sinus cavity next to Tyler's nose.

A room full of pediatric specialists, ready for anything, watched as Dr. Custer pulled the tent pole from Tyler's left eye. Fortunately, when the pole was carefully removed, there was no significant blood loss, no damage to his eye or major blood vessels and no brain injury.

Dr. Custer calls Tyler's case a miracle. "One millimeter either way could have been disastrous," he said. "It could have been fatal. He could have been blind or permanently disabled. Tyler is beyond lucky."

Scott & White is one of 170 Children's Miracle Network (CMN) hospitals, where research, medical education, and comprehensive, multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment are available for every illness and injury of childhood. The variety of specialists in the operating room with Tyler are among the more than 550 Scott & White physicians dedicated to treating complex cases with the team approach. They answered Dr. Custer's call prepared for the worst, but they were grateful to see Tyler have the best possible outcome.

By the next morning, Tyler was sitting up in bed, eating his breakfast and joking with his family. That same day he was back home in Copperas Cove, ready for his next adventure.

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