Teen Fights for His Life After New Year's Eve Stray Bullet Finds Him

A Spring Valley teenager is fighting for his life after a stray bullet fired on New Year’s Eve came through his grandmother's kitchen and lodged in the top of his head.

18-year-old Miguel Castro has been at Scripps Mercy Hospital since here New Year’s Day.

Friday afternoon he was brought out of an induced coma. Family members say he is strong but has a long recovery ahead.

Miguel Castro's wish for a better life set him on the path out of poverty and on to promise.

Miguel enrolled in Grossmont College. He was training to become a teen instructor with Outdoor Outreach, a program for at risk kids in which he was once enrolled.

“Miguel speaks fluent Spanish. He comes from the same neighborhoods they come from. He knows what they are going through,” Outdoor Outreach Director Ben McCue said.

That bright future now hangs in the balance. New Year’s eve at his grandmother’s house in Tijuana a single bullet , fired outside in celebration, pierced her kitchen wall and lodged in top of Miguel's head.

“I didn't know what to do. I was scared. I didn't know if he was alive or dead,” Miguel’s mother Alma Vasquez said.

Miguel's sister Cassandra translated for their mother Alma Vasquez. She said Miguel hung on for the13 hours it took to get him from Tijuana to Scripps Mercy Hospital with the bullet still in his brain.

“The wait is hard. It's hard for me as a mother,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez said he was not expected to survive. Now out of coma, Miguel is showing signs of life.

“He recognizes me as his mother. He can move his arms and legs. He can't open his eyes or talk,” Vasquez said.

Miguel's story is gaining well-wishers on Facebook. His friends at Outdoor Outreach are behind him.

“He is an amazingly resilient kid and we know he is incredibly strong. I think he has an incredibly strong will to live,” McCue said.

Miguel’s determination to succeed made believers out of family and friends. Those gathering regularly at Miguel's hospital bedside are just as convinced he'll pull through this.

“I believe in God that my son is okay. And I keep believing 100 percent God will help my son,” Vasquez said.

While Castro's prognosis is good he is expected to remain hospitalized here for a month.

Because the bullet damaged areas of the brain that control sight and speech doctors can't say for sure whether either can be fully restored.