Alex Hook home after surgery, recovery progresses

KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. - Alex Hook was nearly killed after a projectile shot out by a lawnmower hit him in the head at recess. Now, he is home again after another surgery.

"He's made remarkable progress. I guess it's the resiliency of a child his age," said Michelle Koertgen, Hook's aunt.

Hook is smiling once again after the surgery earlier this week removed excess fluid near his brain.

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"It truly is a miracle as far as I'm concerned, having seen him from the day it happened to where he is today," Koertgen said.

In early September, Hook was on the playground at Riverview Elementary in Silver Lake when, investigators say, a nearby lawn mower launched a projectile that hit the first-grader in the head.

"He has nightmares about it, frankly. He's doing some counseling for that because he wakes up crying," said Koertgen. "I don't know if he knows exactly what it was. And how would he, because it hit him in the back of the head?"

Severe swelling early on forced surgeons to remove a portion of Hook's skull. Koertgen said a piece of 3D-printed material is now connected to the boy's actual skull.

"He's seven years old, it's Christmas time, he's getting out of the hospital, he has his skull on, so there is no more helmet that he has to wear," Koertgen said. "He's not out of the woods completely, there's a chance he can pick up an infection, which is the worst-case scenario."

As Hook continues on the road to recovery, his family is happy he will be home for the holiday.

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