Jun 14, 2009 8:38 am US/Eastern
Little Leaguer Survives Gunshot, Cheers Teammates
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Doctors call it a miracle – an 11-year-old boy who survived a gunshot wound to the head was back at the ballpark as a living example of team spirit.
"It just feels great – smell the grass, smell the peanuts, get that urge for playing baseball," Davonte Kelly said.
Davonte is getting back in the swing of things. He was front and center with his team in Canarsie, in good spirits and itching to play ball.
Just last weekend, the 11-year-old dodged death. He was waiting to take the field with his team when he felt something hit his head, unaware at first that he was struck by a bullet.
The round was lodged in his skull. The doctors that removed it were amazed that it didn't penetrate and cause brain damage – or kill him.
The ordeal earned Davonte a new nickname: "The Miracle Boy."
"'The Miracle Boy,' it's driving me crazy," Davonte says. "But, you know, it means they're showing me so much support."
Doctors told Davonte he has to wait a little longer before he can play baseball, so he remained on the sidelines to cheer his teammates, just as they did for him when he was at Brookdale Hospital.
"They supported me, and I think I am supporting them in this game," Davonte says. "They're my teammates, [and] that's what you do – you have to support your teammates."
Before the game, Council Member Charles Barron led a march to this ball field with the message to "stop the violence."
The gunman who nearly killed Davonte is still on the loose.
Kelly was posing for a photo when he was shot. Family and friends at the scene believed he was hit with a baseball until the doctor discovered the bullet. The bullet was lodged in between his scalp and skull.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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