Boy Shot in Neck in Hunting Accident Spits Out the Bullet

A 14-year-old boy who authorities say spat out a bullet after being shot in the neck by a deer-hunting companion amazed doctors Friday with his grit and good fortune.

Kevin D. Panten was listed in good condition at University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis and was expected to fully recover from a shattered jawbone and pierced esophagus.

“He’s doing super,” said his mother, Janet Panten. “Doctors say the damage was minimal and the four surgeries they thought they would need to repair his jaw aren’t even being done.

“It’s just fantastic that the bullet could go in and not cause a lot of damage,” she added. “There’s a lot of tears up there and words like miracles being used.”

The accident occurred Thanksgiving morning near Spooner in northwestern Wisconsin while Panten and a companion were hunting for deer in a densely wooded area, said Bart Halverson, a state Department of Natural Resources safety specialist.

Halverson said the companion fired a rifle shot at a passing deer but missed and struck Panten in the neck. Panten spat out the bullet and ran to his friend for aid. He was taken to Spooner Community Memorial Hospital and later flown to Minneapolis.

Dr. Frederick Goetsch, who treated the teen-ager at Spooner, said Panten was fortunate to have survived with so little damage. “This is a real freaky one,” Goetsch said. “For some reason, the bullet missed all the vital structures in his neck.”

Halverson said Panten handled the incident well, and at one point even asked that the bullet not be thrown out because he wanted to keep it as a souvenir.