A Minnesota couple claims their family witnessed a “miracle” when their 9-year-old son pulled an arrow out of his face — and escaped unharmed.
Speaking with local outlet KARE 11, Dave and Abby Deterding recalled the moment in March when their son, Gus, came to them panicked and bleeding after falling and slipping in their icy driveway while attempting to pack some items in their truck, including a youth bow and arrow.
“He was carrying everything at once,” Abby said. “And he fell right on it. I was vacuuming downstairs, Dave was getting dressed, and [Gus] walked in, panicked.”
“He had a very small cut on his head,” Dave told the outlet, adding that Abby remembered Gus having “a lot of blood” on his face.
According to the Deterdings, they were unaware of the severity of their son’s injuries at the time and instead attempted to alleviate his concerns about what had occurred.
“He kept saying. ‘Mom, am I dying and am I going to leave you? “I do not want to leave you yet.” Abby informed KARE 11. “And I am like, ‘Gus, no, we are just getting stitches.'”
While the couple initially took their son to Alexandria Hospital, a concerned emergency room doctor requested that Gus be transported to the larger Children’s Minnesota Hospital, according to KARE 11.
The 9-year-old was initially discharged from the hospital without incident, but it was not until Gus began vomiting and the Deterdings returned him for a second time that doctors realized something extraordinary had occurred.
According to Dr. Ken Maslonka, the arrow had almost completely penetrated Gus’ brain before the 9-year-old pulled it out himself.
“He looked too normal,” Maslonka said. “I would say in the 28 years I have been at Children’s of Minnesota, I have never seen anything like this.”
Doctors rushed to scan Gus’ brain, discovering that a small piece of his skull had been pushed into his brain by the impact of the arrow, which the Deterdings believe Gus was carrying tucked under his armpit and pointing up toward his head when he fell.
“It literally took my breath away and I felt, like, sick to my stomach,” Abby said of the first time she saw her son’s brain scan. “I could not believe it, ‘No, that far, what?'”
“Had it hit that, that would have been death within minutes,” Maslonka said, referring to a carotid artery located very close to where the arrow had been in Gus’ brain.
According to Maslonka, the arrow was only two centimeters from exiting Gus’ skull. However, three months later, Gus is back to his normal self, playing hockey with his siblings and returning to baseball practice with the rest of his team.
“He is as normal as he was before,” the doctor explained. “It is either fortune, at a minimum, or it is heavenly presence of God controlling the direction of that arrow.”
The Deterdings stated that Gus has not wanted to discuss the incident in detail yet. “We have never really pressed him on talking about it, but maybe someday,” his father told KARE 11.
The 9-year-old’s parents have only one explanation for what happened in March.
“We know it did not just happen,” Dave admitted.
“It is a miracle,” both parents told the outlet, with Abby saying, “We are just thankful, so grateful.”
