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Boy in critical condition after being hit with foul ball

Child's skull fractured, but swelling in brain should subside
September 5, 2009
AKRON, Ohio -- Doctors in northeast Ohio say a four-year-old boy who was struck in the head by a foul ball at a Minor League Baseball game is in critical condition with a fractured skull.

Doctors say it may take five days for the swelling in Luke Holko's brain to subside. It's unclear how well he'll recover.

Holko and his family had front-row seats near first base for Wednesday's doubleheader at the home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a short-season Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

Holko was hit as he sat in his father's lap and talked to his mother. Paramedics took him to a local hospital.

During a news conference Friday, the boy's mother, Nicole Holko of North Bloomfield, said her son loves baseball and the accident won't stop the family from attending games.