KEY POINTS:
When 16-year-old Michael Palmer was woken by a bang and a stinging in his shoulder he had no idea he'd been shot with an air rifle.
"It was only when I looked in the mirror and saw my shirt soaked with blood that I realised what had happened," he said.
It has been two months since the Paparoa youth was shot by a friend, but the incident haunts him - especially as the pellet is still lodged in his back.
Michael's mother, Joanna Palmer, was appalled to see her son's injury.
"Seeing my son in pain was terrifying. I took him to Kawakawa Hospital where we waited three hours for an x-ray. A nurse tried to squeeze the pellet out but it was buried too deeply, then a doctor stuck his finger into the wound to see if he could feel it. It was clearly hurting Michael."
Mrs Palmer then took her son to Whangarei Hospital where doctors decided the pellet would be too difficult to remove.
"They've left the pellet and told us to come back if he has any problems," Mrs Palmer said. "It really worries me that it might move and cause serious internal damage."
Since Michael's injury in February, there have been two other serious shootings involving children and air rifles in Northland.
Six-year-old Tayla Scott was hit in the chest by an air rifle pellet fired by her 9-year-old brother at their Taumarere home on March 30. The pellet grazed her heart, but doctors say she should make a full recovery.
Yesterday, a Waitangi 18-year-old appeared in Kaikohe District Court, charged with carelessly using a firearm.
His 14-year-old cousin needed surgery to remove a pellet from his head after he was shot with an air rifle on April 5. The defendant was remanded on bail until next month.
The head of Whangarei Hospital's emergency department, Scott Cameron, said air rifles could cause severe injury or death.
"Air rifles are definitely not toys," he said. "They are firearms and should be treated with the same respect."
Mrs Palmer said children should be warned not to play with guns.
"Michael is a keen shooter. He used to shoot rabbits and I made sure he knew how to safely use a gun. His friend might have just been playing around but the consequences were serious."
The New Zealand Arms Code bans anyone younger than 16, or under 18 if they do not have a firearms licence, from owning an air gun and allows them to use one only under direct supervision of a licence-holder or someone over 18.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
