‘Not acceptable’: X-ray reveals biggest killer of kids in the US

An emergency room doctor has given a chilling reminder of America’s ongoing gun violence epidemic.

An emergency room doctor has given a chilling reminder of America’s ongoing gun violence epidemic.

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Dr Sam Ghali shared the chest X-ray of “a young boy suffering from a condition that is now the #1 cause of death in children and adolescents in the US”, asking his followers, “What’s the diagnosis?”

“I’ll give you a hint it’s not the FLU, RSV, or COVID,” Dr Ghali added.

Here’s the Chest X-Ray of a young boy suffering from a condition that is now the #1 cause of death in children and adolescents in the U.S.

What’s the diagnosis? pic.twitter.com/AO9CwyNGzu

— Sam Ghali, M.D. (@EM_RESUS) August 27, 2023

Of course, the cause of death was a firearm: an analysis of CDC data, published last week in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, found that guns had once again killed a record number of children in 2021, exceeding the peak registered in the first year of the pandemic.

Researchers had expected to see a decrease in gun-related deaths because of Covid-induced lockdowns. Those projections, however, were not realised.

Per the report, 4752 children and adolescents (from newborn to age 19) died from a firearm injury that year – an increase of almost 42 per cent from 2018. Two-thirds of the deaths were homicides, almost 30 per cent were suicides, and 3.5 per cent resulted from “unintentional injury”.

“This was surprising to many of us,” pediatric trauma surgeon and lead author of the analysis, Dr Chethan Sathya, said.

Families participate in a candlelight vigil dedicated to the 19 children and two adults murdered during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Picture: Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

America has potentially entered an “alarming new baseline”, he added, in which it will continue to see more gun deaths in children. The figures make 2021 the second consecutive year in which firearms surpassed car accidents, drug overdoses and cancer to be the leading cause of death in the demographic.

“The numbers speak for themselves. This is one of our chief public health crises. The most likely reason that your child will die in this country is at the hands of a firearm. That’s not acceptable,” Dr Sathya said.

“In the operating room and across our communities, we continue to see an increase in gun violence among children. Our research reiterates the need for action now to bend this horrific curb.”

"Gun violence accounts for over 7% of deaths in the US among those under age 20, a figure that stands far above peer countries. When excluding infants, who have higher rates of death from neonatal causes, that number jumps to nearly 15%." https://t.co/2WTeAIB8Yxpic.twitter.com/VsZNqk0I4R

— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) August 28, 2023

According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 130 mass shootings so far in 2023 – the highest number recorded at this point in any year since at least 2013.

Experts, journalists, and the families of victims have become increasingly outspoken about the ongoing devastation wrought by firearms: a sobering report by The Washington Post in March demonstrated the impact of a bullet from an AR-15-style rifle on the bodies of children.

“It literally can pulverise bones. It can shatter your liver, and it can provide this blast effect,” gunshot survivor and Johns Hopkins Hospital trauma surgeon Joseph Sakran explained.

During surgery on people shot with high-velocity rounds, body tissue “literally just crumbled into your hands”.

Pediatrician Roy Guerrero testifies to the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on gun violence on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2022. Picture: Stefani Reynolds/Pool/AFP

Dr Roy Guerrero, the pediatrician who treated those wounded last May in Uvalde, Texas when an 18-year-old gunman massacred 19 children and two of their teachers at Robb Elementary School, made similar observations during a hearing on gun violence in Washington.

“Two children, whose bodies had been pulverised by bullets fired at them, decapitated, whose flesh had been ripped apart, that the only clue as to their identities were the blood-spattered cartoon clothes still clinging to them, clinging for life and finding none,” he told politicians in June.

“Making sure our children are safe from guns, that’s the job of our politicians and leaders. In this case, you are the doctors and the country is the patient. We are lying on the operating table, riddled with bullets like the children of Robb Elementary and so many other schools. We are bleeding out, and you are not there.

“My oath as a doctor means that I signed up to save lives. I do my job, and I guess it turns out that I am here to plead, to beg, to please, please do yours.”