PENSACOLA, Fla. — The 8-year-old boy whose arm was reattached after a shark bit it off was released from a Florida hospital and went home to Mississippi to continue his therapy, hospital officials said.
Jessie Arbogast, still in a light coma more than a month after the shark attack, left Sacred Heart Children's Hospital Sunday and will continue his rehabilitation at his home in Ocean Springs, Miss., the hospital said.
Doctors said Jessie was medically stable and no longer needed kidney dialysis or other treatment that could be provided only in a hospital.
His arm and leg wounds are healing, and he is able to open his eyes but has been unable to speak or communicate and will still need medical care, physical therapy and speech therapy, Dr. Rob Patterson, the pediatrician overseeing his treatment, said.
"It appears that he has suffered some brain injury because of the massive blood loss incurred during the shark attack which resulted in a reduced supply of oxygen to the brain," said Dr. Tim Livingston, a pediatric neurologist at Sacred Heart.
"We think there is certainly potential for further recovery, but we just don't know how long that may take, or how far he can progress. It may be a year before we know."
Jessie was attacked by a 7-foot bull shark July 6 while playing in shallow waters at Gulf Islands National Seashore in northwest Florida. The shark tore off his right arm just below the shoulder and made a severe bite on his leg.
The boy's uncle wrestled the shark to shore where a park ranger shot it. They recovered the arm from the shark's gullet and doctors reattached it during 11 hours of surgery at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola.
In Ocean Springs, the streets near Jessie's home were decorated with yellow ribbons and signs reading "Welcome Home, Jessie." A small group of neighbors gathered as Jessie was carried inside from the ambulance that drove him home.
Doctors do not know if Jessie will regain use of the reattached arm. They said it appeared to have good blood circulation but that it could take a year to 18 months for the severed nerves to grow back.
"It is amazing that Jessie survived and made it out of the hospital," Livingston said. "He obviously is a fighter, so we have hope he will make more progress in the months to come."