Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1878 — Well with a Bullet in His Brain. [ARTICLE]

Well with a Bullet in His Brain.

About four years ago, a young colored lad named John Williams, while playing along the banks of the canal in this place, was shot by a reckless canal-boat Captain. The ball penetrated the boy’s forehead and lodged in the brain. He was attended by Dr. R. H. Gibbons, who probed the wound to the depth of four inches without recovering the ball. The boy was unconscious for about nine hours. His life was entirely despaired of, but, strange to say, he regained consciousness and showed signs of improvement Several days afterward an abscess was formed within the wound. This was opened by his physician, and discharged a quantity of pus, since which time the boy has entirely recovered, goes to school regularly, and stands* well in his class. In the opinion of the physicians, the ball lies below the back of the skull, and has become enoysted.-s-Hones-dale Independent.