Saturday, May 2, 2015

Kevin Vicente update: Valley boy mauled by dog gets new lease on life

ARIZONA -- Kevin Vicente's giggle is infectious. His smile is too, but until now you might not have noticed it behind all his scars.

In February of 2014, Kevin was attacked by a pit bull at his babysitter's house. He spent weeks in the hospital, eating through a feeding tube. Kevin couldn't even open his right eye.

 

The damage looked irreversible, and Kevin's mom resigned herself to a lifetime of pain for her little boy.

ABC15 checked in with Kevin just before Christmas. With mounting medical bills, Kevin's mom couldn't afford the big tree he wanted.

But you could.

Our viewers didn't just give Kevin a Christmas tree; you gave him the best Christmas ever.  Kevin got toys and love and financial help for his mom.

But the generosity didn't stop there.

Dr. William Leighton saw Kevin's story and wanted to help. He offered to fix Kevin's scars for free.

We saw Kevin this week at his follow up appointment after his final operation. Kevin had three surgeries this year to fix his scars. His last operation was just a week ago. He's still pretty swollen and his stitches make his new scars look worse than they really are.


"Now he looks at least 80% better than when he started," Leighton said.

Not only does Kevin look better, he feels better. He can open that right eye now and see out of it, something his mom thought might never happen.

The biggest change is to his personality. Kevin no longer hides his face when you try to talk to him. We finally get to see who he really is, and Kevin gets to see that his future looks brighter than ever.

(ABC15 Arizona - Apr 24, 2015)

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