The young angler who took a catfish barb to the chest at a fishing hole in New Port Richey, Fla., last week will soon be released from the hospital and is recovering well from his injuries, Pasco County Fire Rescue said.
The agency has not released the name or age of the child at the request of his mother, spokesperson Corey Dierdorff told the Tampa Bay Times. Both are still rattled by what Dierdorff described as the “freak accident” on June 20 that caused the child to be airlifted to the hospital and rushed into emergency surgery to remove a hooked catfish barb from his chest.
The mother didn’t say where she and her son were fishing when he happened to catch a large catfish, Dierdorff said. Nor did they have the time to identify what kind of catfish the youngster reeled in before it managed to drive its long, serrated spine nearly two inches deep into the boy’s chest.
