Toddler Showing Progress Following Staten Island Shooting
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Doctors say a Staten Island toddler is making a remarkable recovery just days after she was shot in the face at a playground outside her apartment building.
Simaya Bailey, who is just 18-months-old, has had three surgeries and lost an eye but relatives told CBS 2 she is making "significant progress."
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Doctors said Simaya is amazingly strong, has been playing at the hospital and can even hold her bottle by herself.
Little Simaya was sitting in a stroller in the courtyard of the Arlington Houses on Holland Avenue with her family when shots rang out shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Doctors said when she arrived at the hospital time was of the essence.
"Her CAT scan did show injury to the left side of her brain with a blood clot in the brain and on the surface of the brain," Dr. Edwin Chang, of Richmond University Medical Center, said.
Doctors removed the clots and reduced the swelling of Simaya's brain.
She is listed in critical condition but is expected to make a full recovery. Doctors said she could be discharged from the hospital by the middle of next week.
Damark King has been charged in the shooting. He pleaded not guilty Thursday and was denied bail.
Police said the 19-year-old was aiming at Simaya's uncle but missed -- hitting the girl instead.
The two men were allegedly involved in some kind of dispute.
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