Child Accidentally Shot, Recovers Just In Time For Birthday

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A 3-year old boy who accidentally shot himself is headed home just in time for his birthday.

"He inspire me. Wouldn't expect him to be doing so well as he's doing," said his mother Dorphius Jean.

Darnal Mundy, is walking and talking, but it was a very different story back in August when he had a traumatic brain injury from shooting himself.

"He had the gunshot wound to the center of his forehead," said Sarah Jernigan, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Holtz Children's Hospital.

On August 4th, while looking for an iPad, he found a gun and accidentally shot himself once in the head. The shot rang out just before 6 a.m., waking his parents. They ran into the other room and spotted their son lying on the ground.

That's when his father grabbed the child and ran out the door with his mother in toe. Within minutes, they were at Holtz Children's Hospital.

"We jumped out of the car, ran in and were met by doctors and nurses," his mother, Jean recalls. "They grabbed my son and I kept yelling, 'please save him, please save him.'"

Doctors were able to remove part of his skull to relieve pressure.

"Those first few days we weren't sure what type of recovery he would have because of the injury to the left side of his brain," said Jernigan.

From there, he spent three weeks in the intensive care unit.  On August 24th, he went to Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital, where he has since been working on getting better.

Doctors say his prognosis is good and he is regaining strength and walking skills one step at a time. They said he is now doing most of the things a 3-year old should.

"Everyday he is doing something new. He's thinking about what's the next thing, where's my candy, excited to live life again," said Seema Khurana, the Director of pediatric rehabilitation at Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital.

The doctors who saved his life said they are inspired by how far he's come.

"Much quicker recovery than we even could have hoped for," said Jernigan.

Daranal is expected to be discharged in about a week.

All this just in time for his fourth birthday in just two weeks. His mother said she plans to take him to the sequarium so he can pet the dolphins.

As for his return home, he told the staff he is looking forward to being able to play with his toys and his three dogs.