THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300421
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SARAH HUNTLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Twelve days ago, 5-year-old Andre Grady's arms and legs were hard at work, pedaling and steering as he rode his bicycle outside his grandmother's Newport News home.
That was before a car screeched to a stop beside him, before the shooting began, before a bullet tore through Andre's neck and lodged near his spinal cord. Now the tiny victim of a drive-by shooting lies in a bed at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, paralyzed from his chest down and unable to use his right arm.
Today, an international team of six surgeons plans to give him some hope. Although it is unlikely that Andre will walk again, doctors hope to increase his mobility by performing microsurgery on the complex set of nerves that control the child's right arm. His left arm functions.
``As he is now, he won't be able to push a wheelchair,'' said Dr. Magnus Noah, a surgeon with the International Institute of Reconstructive Microsurgery, which is underwriting Andre's operation. ``What we want to give him back is any kind of shoulder motion, elbow motion, finger motion. We want to get this boy into a wheelchair.''
The procedure, which will last from 12 to 24 hours, will be the beginning of a long healing process, Noah said.
The surgeons will make an incision, extending from just below Andre's right ear to his shoulder, toexpose his brachial plexus, an elaborate network of nerves that fan out from the spinal cord and connect to five different places in the arm. The doctors will have to explore the area first to determine the extent of nerve damage left by the bullet. Then they will begin the painstaking process of reconnecting the severed nerves.
Depending on what they find, the surgeons will either reattach the nerve endings with a fine thread or remove sensory nerves from Andre's leg to bridge the defect, Noah said. The bullet also will be removed during the procedure.
The results won't be immediate, though. Andre will undergo extensive physical therapy and frequent evaluations. Noah predicted it will be a year before Andre can bend or lift his arm.
``It's going to take time for the nerves to grow back,'' said Noah, who explained that nerves usually grow at a rate of 1 millimeter a day. ``It's easier for a 5-year-old boy, because the distance (between the severed nerves) is not so big.''
Many reconstructive microsurgery patients have to wait years before the damage can be repaired, but Andre will be treated immediately because the microsurgery institute is in Norfolk.
``It's an advantage for him to be here. He can be seen by the institute's doctors immediately,'' said Noah, a German member of the institute's surgical team.
The institute was founded 18 months ago by Dr. Julia K. Terzis. The institute, which sponsors educational efforts, research and patient care, will raise the money for Andre's operation, spokeswoman Carol C. Torgeson said.
Andre is the third Virginia child who has been helped by the institute. ``We have a very strong commitment to the local community,'' Torgeson said.
Police have two men in custody in connection with the drive-by shooting that wounded Andre. David Edward Hitchcock, 20, and Kevin D. Canady, 18, surrendered to police a few days after the incident. They have been charged with two counts of maiming and two counts of use of a firearm while committing a felony.
Witnesses said Andre's 16-year-old cousin had argued earlier in the day with a man who had threatened to come back with a gun.
Two other victims of the shooting - William Askins, 20, and Malcholm Vega, 32 - were treated and released, but Andre wasn't so lucky.
``This horrible crime resulted in a complex brachial plexus injury to the young boy and paralysis of the spinal cord,'' Noah said. ``One bullet left its terrible course through his little body.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JOHN KATLOWSKI/Staff
Dr. Magnus Noah points to the area of the neck where surgeons will
operate to reconnect the nerves severed when 5-year-old Andre Grady
was hit during a drive-by shooting in Newport News.
KEYWORDS: SHOOTING INJURIES by CNB