A 12-year-old boy was accidentally hit by a small plane, while he was body boarding with his friends along the beach on the Fourth of July.
Nicholas Baer, a middle school student, is currently recovering from a head injury due to the accident at the Carlsbad State Beach in California.
While towing a banner, the Piper PA18, registered to Air Ads out of Gillespie Field in El Cajon, lost engine power and dove into an emergency crash landing by the beach Saturday afternoon. The incident is being investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. The pilot of the small plane was fortunately not hurt when the plane went crashing down on the 12-year-old who was just walking toward the beach to body board with his friends.
"Nicholas was pretty much at the end of that plane's journey," said Janice Baer, Nicholas' mother.
Nicholas' family was not present during the incident; however, they live near and made it in time to bring him to the hospital. They found that their son had a concussion, a gash to the head and a damaged skull.
A spokesman mentioned Nicholas not having any memory of the incident, so they cannot tell what exactly hit him, or if he was 'injured by depths'.
Doctors at the Rady Children's Hospital performed a surgery on Nicholas for his head injury and expect the 12-year-old to quickly recover from the accident. From "serious condition," he is now listed under "good condition" at the pediatric care unit of the hospital. Neurosurgeon Dr. Hal Meltzer also added that Nicholas is having a fantastic recovery and he anticipates this will be complete. His staff had been worried that the sand and seawater might have contaminated his injury which was close to Nicholas' brain. The doctors, however found that the lining to the brain was not at all damaged.
Janice Baer and her husband Bill acknowledged a large number of people who helped them during the incident. She noted how amazing it was that even people they normally do not connect with stepped forward to help.
Meanwhile, the Miracle Dude, as his mother calls him, has to refrain from activities like soccer and the junior league program, as part of the recovery process.
