Medics And A Familys Faith Credited With Wendys Victims Recovery

Worried EMS technicians doubted that 18-year-old Jaquione Johnson would make it to New York Hospital Queens alive after a gunman shot him at close range in the head at the Wendys massacre in Flushing on May 24.
The ambulance sped the victim to the hospital as paramedics labored to keep him breathing. As soon as Johnson arrived at the Emergency Room, he was prepped for surgery. Dr. Mark Eisenberg, a neurosurgeon and his medical team, already scrubbed, waited for their patient to be sped to the operating room for the six-hour-long operation, including a craniotomy.
Once in the OR, X-rays showed the slug entered through the upper left rear of his skull, traveling down through the left side of his brain and into his sinuses. The bullet exited through the roof of his mouth, breaking a tooth.
On Friday, Dr. Eisenberg and his medical team told a news conference at the Flushing based hospital that the surgery went well, but the prognosis "is a little bit of an unknown."
Eisenberg said his patient, young and in good health, isnt paralyzed, but has "significant weakness" on his rightside."
The neurosurgeon credited his associates for the dramatic recovery.
Among the 55 staff members involved in some facet of the operation were Dr. Eisenberg, Dr. Peter Hollis, neurosurgeon; Dr. Jim Maurer, surgical intensive care; Ronald Combs, physicians assistant, surgical intensive care; Steven Margolnick, CST, operating Room; Rosalie Parrott, R.N., operating room; John Russo, R.N., operating room and Tony Caputo, CST, operating room.
"I am delighted he bounced back," Eisenberg said. "His demeanor is quiet, he utters words, but not complete sentences and can comprehend what his family tells him."
Sitting in the back of the room Kevin Johnson listened intently as doctors described Jaquiones condition.
While praising the medical team, Johnson acknowledged there was another factor in his brothers recovery.
"He had God on his side," he said, looking gaunt after two days at Jaquiones bedside with other members of the family.
"Just imagining him with a bag over his dead and his hands duct-taped, I still want to ask him: How did you manage to pull through?"
Johnson said his brother watched with disdain as the Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers.
"His attitude was upbeat," Kevin said. "But as soon as anyone mentions the shooting incident he covers his face with a bed sheet."
Within hours of the news conference at New York Hospital Queens, a Hospital spokesperson said Johnson had been moved out of the hospital to a rehabilitation center to start a long recovery process. The family refused to identify the rehab center.
Johnson and six other fast food workers were shot execution-style in a robbery at Wendys on Main Street in Flushing. The two alleged killers, John Taylor, 36, and Craig Godineaux, 30, were arraigned last week and could face the death penalty if convicted.