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there is little precedent for this. People who are shot like he was generally don’t survive.
A blood-lead level of 5 or higher requires monitoring; in Logan’s last monthly test on March 31, it was 40.
At Logan’s most-recent appointment, Dr. Hannah Hays, his toxicologist at Nationwide Children’s, told him she was encouraged that the levels have stayed steady. Yet she explained that sustained levels of more than 20 put him at especially high risk for chronic fatigue and high blood pressure. Greater than 30 or 40, and his kidneys could be in danger.
The Coles asked Logan’s medical team about the possibility of surgery to try to capture the pellets lodged in his upper body. Some might be removed, the doctors said, but others, like the one in his pulmonary artery and the two in his spinal column, are simply too risky.
That’s not what Logan wanted to hear.
“I don’t want to have organs that have problems when I’m 70 because of lead poisoning. I don’t want to have to deal with that,” he said. “My biggest worry is that I won’t be able to live my life like I would have.” See a video of Logan’s recovery at
The technicians and nurses must first check to see if the vertebrae are healed enough for him to bend and stretch his neck. The technician unstraps him, and for the first time in three months, Logan stands with neither human nor apparatus supporting his upper body.
And it is frightening. “Oh, man,” he says, rubbing his sore neck and giving a nervous laugh.
She tells him not to go crazy, but now he must move. Look up, down, to the left and to the right.
“Oh my gosh,” he says. “It seems scary.” But he bobs his head. He cannot hide his big smile.
Finally, Logan’s neurosurgeon, Dr. Jonathan Pindrik comes in. He pats Logan’s knees and gives him the news: no more brace.
He can run again, ride a bike, lift weights (just not over his head quite yet), the doctor says. Logan interrupts him. “I play soccer,” he says, and tells him that senior-season practice starts in June.
Yes, the doctor tells him. You can play.
This marks three months to the day since the shooting. And for Logan, it served only as the latest reminder that God is good indeed.