Jewish Center Victim Remains in Hospital

Although there was talk of his coming home today, 5-year-old Benjamin Kadish, the youngest and most seriously wounded victim of this month’s shooting at the North Valley Jewish Community Center, will spend at least another two weeks rehabilitating in the hospital, doctors said Wednesday.

Benjamin’s biggest problem is that he is afraid to put any weight on his left leg because it still hurts, said Dr. Luis Montes, the chief rehabilitation physician at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles.

Over the next few weeks, specialists will teach the talkative youngster, whose spirits are improving each day, how to use a wheelchair and walk with crutches.

“The first step is to get him out of bed and moving around,” Montes said. “Then we’ll get him walking again. Within three to four months, we expect he’d be back 100%.”

Benjamin was shot along with four others Aug. 10 at the Jewish center in Granada Hills, allegedly by Buford O. Furrow Jr.

Furrow turned himself in and authorities have said he confessed to the center shooting along with the murder the same day of postal carrier Joseph Ileto.

Federal authorities have indicted Furrow, 37, on two capital charges--murder and unlawful gun possession--and state officials have filed attempted murder charges.

The four others shot at the center--a receptionist, a teenage counselor and two 6-year-old boys--have since been released from area hospitals. But Benjamin, who lives in West Hills with his parents and 9-year-old brother, has been bedridden at Childrens Hospital since the shooting.

One bullet shattered his left leg. He was also shot in the stomach and will need to rely on a colostomy bag for another two months until that wound fully heals, doctors said. Although the shooting nearly killed him, Benjamin is not expected to have any permanent physical damage, his doctors said.

It is unclear, however, how the shooting has emotionally affected Benjamin, who is known in his neighborhood for his ceaseless questions and for waving to every neighbor he sees. Some days, when he meets with the hospital psychiatrist in his room, he talks about the shooting, Montes said. Other days he does not discuss it.

“It’s so difficult to tell how the shooting is going to affect his behavior,” Montes said. “At this point, we just want to get him up and running around like any other 5-year-old.”