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Hartford, CT - When 12-year-old Joey Spencer heard
the splashing coming from the bathroom last Saturday, he knew
his elderly grandmother was in trouble. Frantic, he scanned
the house for other adults, but then remembered his mother
was still at the grocery store and his father had ran off
with a hooker five years earlier. Joey quickly came to the
shocking revelation he would have to act alone or his grandmother
might drown.
Acting on instinct, Joey raced to the bathroom and covered
his eyes as his mother had done during previous occasions
when 85-year-old Hazel Spencer couldn't get out of the bathtub.
With one hand clasped tightly over his eyes and the other
feeling his way towards the splashing and gurgling noises,
Joey managed to grab onto Hazel's outstretched hand before
it was too late.
"That's when everything got all blurry," Joey says
now. "All I remember is that I wasn't strong enough to
pull her out with one hand so I used both. And then I sort
of accidentally peeked -- but just for a split second. Then
I woke up in the hospital."
Physicians at St. Joseph's Hospital concluded Joey had suffered
severe emotional trauma from the incident and was suffering
from what is often known as "hysterical blindness,"
a rare condition that usually results in a temporary lack
of sight lasting anywhere from one day to several years, depending
on how horrific the trauma. In Joey's case, the doctors aren't
very optimistic about a speedy recovery.
"No, little Joey isn't going to be seeing anything anytime
soon," said Head of Pediatric Surgery Andrew Carter.
"That woman was pretty wrinkly. Seriously wrinkly --
like an old prune...except older and wrinklier. And I'm a
doctor!"
During the last week, Joey's intensive therapy has been interrupted
by several visits by local dignitaries lavishing praise on
the young hero, including a special plaque presented by Hartford
Mayor Timothy Larson.
"This boy is a true American hero," Larson said
at Joey's hospital bed, taking a moment afterwards to shake
hands with Mrs. Spencer and her elderly mother. Added Larson,
"Good God is that her? Holy crap, kid. You are brave."
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