Child Shooting Victim Moved to Hospice, Hospice Director Holds on to Hope
By: Homa Bash
Updated: August 22, 2012
The young boy who was shot in the head in north Abilene earlier this month has been moved out of a Fort Worth hospital and into hospice care in Abilene.
Police said 12-year-old Zachary Fernandez was supposed to be transferred from Cook Children's Hospital to hospice care Tuesday night.
APD Detective Eric Vickers said that as far as he knows, Fernandez has never regained consciousness and, according to medical staff at Cook's, he is not expected to.
Fernandez was in the back seat of an SUV on August 6th when a bullet hit him in the head during what police call a drug deal gone wrong involving his mother.
However, contrary to popular belief, hospice care does not necessarily mean a certain end, and the nurses in the hospice unit still believe that miracles can happen.
Officials told KTAB that sometimes acute care hospitals are just not able to provide any further care, so moving to hospice can act as a transitional phase.
The director at Hospice of the Big Country said oftentimes it's about improving a person's quality of life, rather than focusing on their quantity of life.
"In my thirty-plus years of nursing, I've seen people come out of comas," said Dev Ohre. "With the excellent care I'm sure he'll get, hospice believes in miracles. We believe in miracles and hope."
There are certain guidelines that must be met through medicare for people to transfer to hospice from acute care hospitals.
Continued Coverage
Family, Friends Raise Funds for 12-Year-Old Shooting Victim
Prayer Vigil Held for Child Injured Abilene Shooting
APD News Conference Regarding Monday's Shooting of Two Children
Two Children Shot in Abilene, One Critically Injured
Police said 12-year-old Zachary Fernandez was supposed to be transferred from Cook Children's Hospital to hospice care Tuesday night.
APD Detective Eric Vickers said that as far as he knows, Fernandez has never regained consciousness and, according to medical staff at Cook's, he is not expected to.
Fernandez was in the back seat of an SUV on August 6th when a bullet hit him in the head during what police call a drug deal gone wrong involving his mother.
However, contrary to popular belief, hospice care does not necessarily mean a certain end, and the nurses in the hospice unit still believe that miracles can happen.
Officials told KTAB that sometimes acute care hospitals are just not able to provide any further care, so moving to hospice can act as a transitional phase.
The director at Hospice of the Big Country said oftentimes it's about improving a person's quality of life, rather than focusing on their quantity of life.
"In my thirty-plus years of nursing, I've seen people come out of comas," said Dev Ohre. "With the excellent care I'm sure he'll get, hospice believes in miracles. We believe in miracles and hope."
There are certain guidelines that must be met through medicare for people to transfer to hospice from acute care hospitals.
Continued Coverage
Family, Friends Raise Funds for 12-Year-Old Shooting Victim
Prayer Vigil Held for Child Injured Abilene Shooting
APD News Conference Regarding Monday's Shooting of Two Children
Two Children Shot in Abilene, One Critically Injured
