News Releases

Shark Bite Victim In Fair Condition at Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital

Aaron Perez

Houston, Texas, July 27, 2004 — Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital microsurgeon Emmanuel Melissinos, MD, reattached the right arm of a young shark bite victim during a 4 ½-hour surgery Sunday night.

Aaron Perez, 11, is in fair condition at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital.

The incident occurred Sunday evening as Aaron, his father Blas Perez, and family friend Don Townes fished off Bryan Beach in Freeport. The trio was wade fishing amid a huge school of speckled trout, which concentrated around Aaron just before the shark attacked.

The animal bit Aaron three times, shredding his right arm and leaving it connected only by a fractured bone.

A Memorial Hermann Life Flight helicopter and its crew of critical care nurses transported the child to Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital, where Dr. Melissinos painstakingly reattached all arteries, veins, tendons, muscles and soft tissue in the affected arm.

Dr. Melissinos, a clinical professor of surgery at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, started the microsurgery program at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital 25 years ago.

No one knows at this point whether Aaron will gain full function of his hand, but Dr. Melissinos is optimistic about the boy’s future due to his youth, strength and positive attitude.

Check this web site for regular updates on Aaron’s condition.

For more information, contact Media Relations.