Four teenage boys stabbed by a classmate at Franklin Regional High School on Wednesday remain in critical condition.
Three of the teens -- two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old -- had undergone surgery Wednesday at Forbes Hospital for single stab wounds to the torso that penetrated vital organs. Two were on ventilators Thursday and are scheduled to go into surgery again, doctors said.
Also, Jared Boger, a 17-year-old stabbing victim, remains in critical condition at UPMC Presbyterian after a third round of surgery today. He suffered a stab wound through the liver, that also nicked the heart and left a hole in the diaphragm among other injuries.
"He's still critical and on life support, but he's making progress every day," said Louis Alarcon, medical director of trauma surgery at UPMC Presbyterian.
Jared faces a fourth surgery this weekend to repair injuries to the abdomen, which remained too swollen for the wounds to be closed, he said. Dr. Alarcon said the focus will be on the liver, which the knife went through completely, resulting in significant bleeding. Dr. Alarcon said the knife blade barely missed the heart. Surgeons continue checking to assure that the liver is not leaking bile.
Surgeons already closed holes in the chest and diaphragm after they had stopped the bleeding, he said.
The hole in the diaphragm surgeons repaired today was next to the aorta, which is the major artery from the heart to the lower body and legs.
The nearly 2-inch-wide stab wound to the chest penetrated the wall of the abdomen and went through the liver with the knife point ending up between the esophagus and aorta. Neither was damaged, although blood vessels next to the spine were damaged.
Unable to speak or consume anything by mouth, Jared is communicating with his family with head motions and notes he's able to write.
"Our prognosis is very good for him but there are a lot of hurdles before he comes off the ventilator, comes out of the ICU and leaves the hospital," Dr. Alarcon said. "We don't anticipate problems, but we're being vigilant."
Two other students, males age 14 and 17 who suffered stab wounds to the right side of the chest, remain in fair condition at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC officials said.
Four other students have been released from Forbes.
A total of 21 students and one security guard were stabbed in Wednesday's attack.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
