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More kids getting hurt by BB guns, local hospital staff says

Hunter Davis, 10, of South Charleston, holds one of his Airsoft BB guns Monday, Aug. 31. Davis was accidently shot in the eye in January during a “pellet gun war” with a friend. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

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By By Ken McCall, Staff Writer Updated 4:39 AM Tuesday, September 1, 2009

For two years now, Lisa Schwing of Children’s Medical Center of Dayton has noticed an alarming trend as summer comes to an end: a rash of kids coming into the hospital with BB gun wounds.

“In the last four weeks we’ve had seven admitted to the hospital, and that doesn’t even touch the kids who came into the emergency room, got treated and were released,” said Schwing, the hospital’s trauma program manager.

In the last two years, the hospital has seen some very serious BB gun wounds, she said. “We’ve seen BBs in the brain, in the eye socket, in the hand, in the sinuses,” Schwing said. “Last year we had one to the heart, one in the lung, one in the liver, and several in the eye — some serious injuries.”

“The big point is people think of BB guns as a toy,” she said, “and the reality is, they’re no longer toys.”

Today’s BB guns can be pumped up enough that the BB leaves the gun at more than 1,200 feet per second, she said, which is faster than a .22-caliber handgun.

Thirteen-year-old Braden Goodwin knew something was badly wrong Aug. 10 when his best friend accidentally shot him in the face with his BB gun, his mother, Katrina Goodwin said.

The friend assumed the gun was unloaded and the safety was on when he absentmindedly pulled the trigger, Goodwin said.

Unfortunately, the gun was loaded and the safety was off, she said, and her son was shot just under his right eye.

“It went through his cheekbone and shattered the cheekbone,” Goodwin said. “Then it basically went through his head and throat and lodged by his spinal cord in the back of his neck.”

She and her husband Mark had just left their house in Lima when they got a hysterical call from the friend. There was a lot of blood, she said, but the wound itself didn’t look that bad.

The family took him to St. Rita’s Medical Center, where Goodwin said the ear, nose and throat doctor took a look at the X-rays and “wouldn’t even touch it, because it was so dangerous.”

Braden ended up at Children’s Medical Center in Dayton having a three-hour operation to remove bone fragments and lead pellet fragments from his sinus cavity. Doctors had to reconstruct his cheekbone and screw in a metal plate to hold it. They couldn’t take the rest of the pellet out of the back of his neck because the proximity to the spinal cord made it too dangerous.

He’s “doing great” now, although he can’t be physically active for six weeks to allow scar tissue to form around the remaining pellet fragment next to his spinal cord. And, Goodwin said, he’ll have to live with the legacy of that small piece of metal. He’ll never be able to have an MRI, for example.

Ten-year-old Hunter Davis of South Charleston will also have to live the rest of his life with the effects of a BB gun. Hunter was shot in January with an airsoft BB gun that shoots plastic pellets, said his mother, Amber Davis.

During a “pellet gun war” with a friend, using their new Christmas presents, Hunter went into his garage and took off his goggles to reload. He had neglected to put the goggles back on when he stepped back out of the garage into an ambush.

“His little buddy got him right in the eye,” Davis said. “I mean right in the eyeball.”

Hunter didn’t need surgery, but he lost vision in the eye for two days. He recovered his vision, but he’s got a scar on his eye. “The doctor said he will not take another hit to that eye. He’ll lose his vision and his eye ,” Davis said.

BB gun safety tips

Parents can protect children from these unnecessary and unintentional injuries by having children follow 10 safety precautions from Dayton Children’s and Safe Kids USA:

Talk with your children about the risk of gun injury. Explain to children that guns — even BB and pellet guns can be dangerous.
Never point a gun of any kind at a person or animal.
Parents always should supervise children when they are using any kind of gun — even BB and pellet guns.
Tell children to steer clear of playing with these guns because they can lead to injury or even death.
Gun owners should always store firearms (including BB or pellet guns) unloaded and locked up, out of reach of children. Keep BB and pellet guns unloaded. Many injuries happen because children or teens think they are unloaded.
Ammunition should be locked in a separate location, also out of reach of children.
Quality safety devices such as gun locks lock boxes or gun safes should be used for every gun kept in the home. Keep gun storage keys and lock combinations hidden in a separate location.
Talk to children and teens about ways to solve arguments and fights without violence.
Be extremely cautious about allowing children to participate in shooting activities.
Parents should check with neighbors, friends or relatives — or adults in any other homes where children may visit — to ensure they follow safe storage practices if firearms are in their homes.

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