Youth makes quick recovery from injuries

On Friday morning, Caleb Kingery looked like any other happy, energetic 10-year-old boy.

He talked about his love for baseball — his favorite position is catcher — along with football and skateboarding.

What is so impressive about his normalcy is the recent accident that could have claimed his life.

Just three weeks ago, Caleb was airlifted to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Spokane after an errant firework hit him in the face while he and his mother, Monica, took in Fourth of July festivities in Hungry Horse.

Caleb suffered two fractured orbital bones, a broken nose, a large dent in the middle of his forehead, a burn on his forehead and a detached retina. The plate between his brain and his sinus cavity also was fractured. At his worst, just before being airlifted, his eyes swelled shut and he began vomiting blood.

His injuries were serious enough that doctors told his mother that his glasses, which were shattered by the impact, may have saved not only his eyes but his life as well.

And yet two surgeries and 23 days later, you would never know Caleb had as much as a bruise.

Monica Kingery said her son has always had an amazing capacity for recovering from injuries, going all the way back to his birth.

“He was born with gastroschisis, with his intestines on the outside of his body,” she said. “They said that he’d be in the hospital for two months, and he was out in three weeks. He’s just like this amazing healer. He just heals so fast.”

Equally as impressive as Caleb’s healing capacity is his tolerance for pain. His response when asked about his recent injuries:

“It didn’t hurt,” he said.

According to his mother, he was only on prescription pain medications for one day after his first surgery, in which doctors used four plates to put six pieces of his sinus cavity and forehead back together. After that he took regular Tylenol, and not much of it at that.

His biggest complaint about his time in the hospital was that he had to stay in bed so long.

“The nurses just went on and on about how great a patient he was,” Monica Kingery said.

Despite his quick recovery, Caleb still faces many follow-up visits to doctors in Spokane, including three in the next month. He has to meet with a neurologist and a plastic surgeon and undergo a head scan.

A little longer down the road he has to meet with his ear, nose and throat doctor to see if his sinuses are functioning properly or if he will require further surgery.

All those doctor visits mean bills, not to mention travel expenses. To help cover the costs of Caleb’s ongoing recovery as well as the initial expenses, friends of the family are holding several raffles today at Heritage Days in Columbia Falls.

They will be raffling off a basket full of items donated by local companies and a trunk full of bottles of alcohol. A 50-50 raffle will also be held.

Collection jars have been set up throughout the area, including at all Flathead Valley Les Schwab locations, several bars and at Mike’s Conoco locations. A bank account also has been opened at Parkside Federal Credit Union. Anyone wishing to donate to the Kingerys can make out checks to the credit union with “Caleb Kingery” written on the note line.

Along with the different fundraising efforts, Caleb’s grandfather has planned an ice cream social to thank everyone who has been supporting the family. The event will be held in Woodland Park at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.