Boy who survived miracle injury presents charitable donation to Bristol Children's Hospital
Harry Studley was given a less than one per cent chance of surviving being shot in the head in 2016
Last updated 11th Oct 2024
A nine-year-old boy who miraculously survived being shot in the head as a toddler, has presented a charitable donation to the Bristol medics who saved his life.
Harry Studley from Bristol was just 18 months old at the time of the incident in 2016 and was given a less than 1 per cent chance of surviving, but went on to make a remarkable recovery after being treated at the Bristol Children's Hospital.
As a thank you Harry has presented the hospital's charity The Grand Appeal with a cheque for £8,026 this morning (11th October), having raised the money by doing a sponsored 5km walk.
His dad Ed Studley who lives in Wiltshire said: "I feel incredibly proud to be here today to present this cheque...because without them Harry wouldn't be here today.
"It was the worst time of our lives, some really, really dark times. I remember those first few days I didn't leave his bedside...
"Eventually, nine days later he started showing signs of life and that's when things started looking up for us."
Neurosurgeons at the Children's Hospital spent as long as eight hours operating on Harry to save his life, having to deal with severe blood loss as well as swelling of his brain.
Today Harry lives with several complications from the ordeal including epilepsy and partial blindness, but otherwise appears perfectly healthy.
Consultant paediatric neurosurgeon doctor Michael Carter who operated on Harry in 2016 and still works at the hospital said: "I remember we were having a reasonably quiet on call actually, we were just about to go off home, when we got a call from the emergency department saying there was an 18 month old kid on the way, who had been shot through the head...
"It was a really horrible injury...we had what was effectively a high grade military injury in a very, very small child and there were immediate problems with blood loss...
"Second thing was he had an enormous amount of brain injury that you could see on the scan that he'd had done. The brain was extremely swollen."
Eventually Harry was stabilised enough to be returned to intensive care and was awake after a few days.
"It's really, really good, it's fantastic," he said.
"What better job do you have than bringing someone back from the brink and then having them not only alive but doing really, really well."
Dad Ed says the staff like Dr Carter are now friends for life.
He said: "They're family, they're family to us.
"Without them Harry wouldn't be the child he is today. I will hold them in the highest regard for the rest of my life."
The money raised will be used to improve the hospital's Bluebell Ward, where Harry was treated.
You can find out more about the Bristol Children's Hospital charity The Grand Appeal, via this link.