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Kody Job couldn’t attend FFA officers training and
alumni camp this week.
Since the day after school let out for the summer,
the 15-year-old has missed out on normal teen
activities, such as swimming, sports camps,
four-wheeling and stepping up the hours doing odd
jobs for an electric company where he lives in
Woodward.
But that’s OK. Kody is just happy to be alive.
Edmond doctors said a paintball accident at a
Woodward farm could have killed him, if the impact
had been to his temple. As it was, all the corneal
layers of his eye were cut vertically and
horizontally, possibly causing a rupture, and a
cataract from the blow has formed. The force of the
paintball from the gun actually burned his eye.
It was his first attempt at paintball, and now Kody
is a statistic.
Paintball injuries are sending more and more
patients to the emergency room every year, rising
from an estimated 545 in 1998 to approximately 1,200
two years later, according to a report in the
journal Pediatrics.
Compare that to fireworks-related injuries. In 2002,
they resulted in the same number of emergency room
visits as paintball accidents, according to a
Consumer Product Safety Commission report.
July is Eye Injury Prevention Month. As you set
about your summer activities, doctors urge you to
take precautions to make sure your eyes are safe.
Paintball injuries can be severe because of the
small size and high velocity of the projectiles,
which can travel up to 300 feet a second. And
because the balls are small, they can slip past the
orbit – the bony ridge surrounding the eye socket
that protects the eye from injury – and do direct
damage.
Although most people handling paintball guns now
wear protective gear, Kody’s situation was somewhat
freak. He raised his face mask, which covered his
mouth, to speak to a friend. That’s when the
accident happened.
“At first, I was scared I would lose my eyesight. I
got over it, I got motivated, with the help of my
friends and family,” said Kody of the sedate life
he’s led this summer. Pain medications were
prohibited due to the fragile condition of his eye.
Doctors didn’t want him going outside. “But hey, I’m
15.”
He cannot lift anything heavier than a glass of
water due to increased pressure inside his eyeball,
which has actually shrunk greatly in size.
Today, Dr. Brad Taylor with BVA Advanced Eye Care in
Edmond will be removing the cataract, hopefully
restoring 50 percent of his eyesight.
Dr. Nabil Srouji, a
specialist in diseases and surgery of the retina and
vitreous, will follow up after the cataract removal.
Dr. Srouji has been an integral player in Kody’s
treatment, as well as Dr. David Peck in
Woodward, said Kody’s mother Medrith Martinez. A
corneal transplant with a two-month recuperation may
be necessary.
Edmond physicians said it was the worst case of a
frontal eye accident they had seen. He was
hospitalized for three days.
“I’m a stronger person,” said Kody. “It helped me to
know that I can overcome a lot in life.” A “Don’t
Quit” poem has been a Godsend.
Kody is thankful for prayers from Christian
communities in his hometown. He is treasurer for the
Woodward High School FFA, active in Quiz Bowl, a
National Honor Roll Society student and Who’s Who
among top 5 percent of U.S. high school students.
“Kody’s an amazing kid,” said Mrs. Martinez. “He’s
been upbeat all through this. … He’s real
responsible. I don’t have to worry when he goes and
does something. He would rather watch a movie with
me than go out and get in trouble.”
The high school sophomore wants to be a
veterinarian, and is already checking out colleges
and cracking down on his A and B grades, his mother
says.
“There are a lot of things that are fun in life; a
lot of things dangerous,” said Mrs. Martinez. We
both almost didn’t let him go (play paintball). But
he had worked so hard during the school year, and it
was the day after school was out….,” she said.
One thing is sure, his mother says. There won’t be
anymore paintball, or four-wheeling.
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