Doctors Call Boy's Recovery From Near-Fatal Christmas Shooting “Miraculous”

Two years after Leonard Cobb was shot in the head, he is miraculously recovering

Though the phrase "Christmas miracle" sometimes feels overused, one little boy's recovery is nothing short of miraculous.

Leonard Cobb was shot in the head on Christmas Day two years ago in a drive-by shooting during a party at a relative's home in Gary, Ind. He was taken to Gary Methodist Hospital before being airlifted by a University of Chicago Medical Center helicopter for treatment at Comer Children's Hospital.
 
This holiday Leonard, 9, is a happy, healthy boy with no visible signs he was critically wounded.

"You know he's very, very lucky," Dr. Lisa Thornton said. "In many ways it's miraculous he's even here with us."

Leonard said the whole thing happened so fast.

"I was playing a game and a bullet just came through the house, and I didn't see anything else."

The bullet lodged in Leonard's brain and left him unable to walk or talk. He underwent months of physical therapy.

"I just really put it all in God's hands," Leonard's mom, Rachel Cobb, said, "and took it day by day. As long as he's doing OK. What can you complain about when you still have your child."

Leonard's doctor at LaRabida Children's Hospital did an annual check-up Tuesday to see how he's progressing.

"There is little trace of this injury he had," Dr. Thornton said.

He isn't completely healed, though.

"We are most concerned with his learning," she said, "making sure he's able to learn at the pace he needs to as he gets older.

Meanwhile the family is looking forward to a nice peaceful Christmas.

"I'm thankful that everything worked well and that he's doing OK," Cobb said.

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