Little League star has brain surgery

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Kyle Carter's emergency operation to replace childhood shunt a success BY MARK RICE Staff Writer Kyle Carter, a star player on the 2006 Little League World Series championship team from Columbus, underwent successful brain surgery Friday morning. Kyle, 12, needed the emergency operation to replace his shunt, which was inserted into his head as an infant to alleviate arterial blockage and pressure in the brain, said his father, Richard Carter, the team's assistant coach. About three weeks ago, during basketball practice at Midland Middle School, Kyle collided with a teammate and "felt his shunt pop," Carter said. "We didn't think anything about it," Carter said. "But then he started having headaches and, the last few days, he felt like throwing up, and those are some of the signs we've always been told that could mean there's a problem." The final indicator came Wednesday. The Northern Little League All-Stars went to Charlotte, N.C., to accept an award for being named this year's top amateur team in the South -- and Kyle wasn't excited about meeting the presenter, Atlanta Braves hero Chipper Jones. "That's when we knew something was wrong," Carter said. Thursday's appointment with Columbus neurosurgeon Marc Goldman and the subsequent CAT scans confirmed it: The basketball practice collision had shattered Kyle's shunt. "He told us it needs to be changed out," Carter said. "It wasn't working." The Carters asked whether the surgery could wait until Christmas break, because Kyle already missed three weeks of school while playing this August in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa. That wasn't an option, the doctor told the family. Kyle needed the operation Friday morning. After he checked into The Medical Center and autographed a nurse's scrubs, Kyle went through two hours of brain surgery that left his head shaved and his hope saved. "It's been scary," Carter said. "But Dr. Goldman was just fantastic, and Kyle came through it. He's in some pain -- he was shook up -- but he's still sharp as a tack. He's already been cutting up." So the seventh-grader who fascinated the nation this summer with his blazing fastball, huge homers and skewed cap (because of the shunt) is expected to make a complete recovery. "He'll be in intensive care until (today), then in a room for a day or two," Carter said. "He might be back in school Monday or Tuesday. In two weeks, he can start working out again and then play basketball and baseball." The outpouring of concern Friday for the Carters made their cell phones lose power. Kyle had 160 text messages pile up by 11 a.m. Carter marveled at the turn of events that had him accompanying his son to The Medical Center last week, when Kyle had the honor of turning on the hospital's Christmas lights. "Then -- boom -- we're back here six days later," Carter said. "The community has been very, very good to us."