Horse kicks teen in the chest so hard he goes into cardiac arrest, Oklahoma family says

An Oklahoma teenager is hospitalized after a horse kicked him in the chest at his family’s farm in the panhandle, his family says.

The force of the kick was so great that it caused Dalton Bruton to go into cardiac arrest, his family told McClatchy News.

The teen was flown to a hospital in Wichita, Kansas, on May 20, underwent surgery and removed 300 ML of blood from around his heart. He is recovering.

“Please keep praying for my boy,” Dalton’s mother, Deni Bruton, said in a Facebook post. Though her son has been steadily improving, the trauma he suffered is substantial.

“This is going to be a long hard road on recovery,” Deni Bruton’s post said, “But he is determined this is not going to stop him.”

Raising, training and showing horses is a longstanding passion for Dalton Bruton’s family, he told TV station KFOR.

The Brutons were readying the horses for virus checkups, but one horse was not having it, Dalton Bruton told the outlet.

“We were just kind of trying to corner and, you know, get her calmed down a little bit,” he said. “And I got whacked.”

Doctors believe Dalton will be able to make a full recovery, Deni Bruton told McClatchy.

The Daltons are thankful to the friends, neighbors and community members who have rallied around them, in person and online, offering prayers and well wishes.

“Dalton said he is sending each and everyone of you a cross dimensional hug,” a Facebook post said. “He knows without all of you he didn’t have a chance.”

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