''Miracle'' recovery for Tonopah boy

7-year-old Fernando Ornelas is learning to walk again, with help from physical therapist Bonni Moyer

By Carlos Miller

August 24, 2000 Web posted at: 12:45 PM EDT (1645 GMT)

PHOENIX, Arizona (The Arizona Republic Online) -- Missing part of his brain and half his skull, 7-year-old Fernando Ornelas faced a herd of reporters Wednesday, answering questions about his near-death experience, switching from English and Spanish without missing a beat.

Not bad for a kid whose right side of his brain was destroyed by a stray bullet on May 23, leaving him in a coma for two weeks, with doctors initially saying his chances for survival were slim.

"I call him 'my little miracle boy,'" said physical therapist Bonni Moyer, who has worked with Fernando since he emerged from the coma.

Speaking at a press conference at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, where he is recovering, Fernando told reporters that he would like to forget that night three months ago.

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Instead, he focused on more positive things.

"I miss my dog," he said, wearing a protective helmet over his head.

"Mi perro, Rocky."

Fernando also mentioned his passion for soccer, his fondness for mangos and his love for his family, especially his two little brothers, Ivan Daniel and Eduardo, and his older sister, Marisol.

But the road to recovery has just begun, said Dr. Bruce Cherny, the neurosurgeon who removed the right side of Fernando's brain.

"It was completely demolished," he said. "But the left side of the brain looked good."

Fernando, who has no problem communicating, is partially paralyzed on the left side of his body. It may take years before he can fully walk again.

"The right side controls the left side of the body," Cherny said.

The surgeon removed part of the skull to allow the healthy part of the brain to swell out. The skull will be replaced in a couple of months, he said.

"Children have an enormous potential for recovery," he said. "Much better than adults."

On the night he was shot, Fernando was sleeping on the floorboard of his family's pickup truck in Tonopah, an unincorporated community southwest of Phoenix.

Having just bought milk, his mother, Nadia, pulled into the dirt driveway to their home. She parked and stepped out.

Meanwhile, a neighbor who told police he had drunk at least 12 beers that day, was sitting inside his mobile home unloading his deer rifle.

Rosario Javier Moreno Cota, 29, told police he took two bullets out of the rifle, pointed it downward and pulled the trigger, discharging the gun.

The bullet tore through the wall of Cota's trailer, hitting a steel clothesline pole outside and ricocheting into the wheel well of the truck. The bullet entered the back of Fernando's head and exited in front of his right ear.

Cota, who is in custody, has been charged with aggravated assault. His trial begins in October.

Hearing a loud bang on the night of the incident, Fernando's mother thought a tire had blown out.

Moments later, she found her son in a pool of blood, his head resting against the accelerator.

"My baby is going to die," she said from the hospital the following day.

Today, her baby spends his days playing with toys, eating candy and charming hospital staff.

"He's just like a normal little boy," Moyer said. "He burps and then laughs out loud."

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