Young Boy Claims 'Black Panther' Saved His Life After Meat Skewer Impaled His Head

Superheroes may save the day on the pages of comic books and on the big screen in movies, but they [...]

By Nicole Drum

Superheroes may save the day on the pages of comic books and on the big screen in movies, but they also inspire people in real life and for one Missouri boy, that inspiration from Black Panther was a critical factor in saving his life after a freak accident

In September, 11-year-old Xavier Cunningham of Harrisonville, Missouri was playing in a treehouse outside his home when he was attacked by a freak swarm of wasps. The boy's attempt to escape the terrifying attack caused him to fall four feet from a ladder, landing on a foot-long meat skewer, impaling his face and going through to the back of his skull. Xavier survived the incident -- the skewer having missed critical parts of his nerves and brain stem -- and now, he's crediting a specific scene in Black Panther with saving his life.

"I watched Black Panther," Xavier told CBN News (via PEOPLE). "At the end of it, how he just takes it out and dies -- so I was like, 'Nope!'"

The "it" he is referring to is a dagger that Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) takes to the chest during the climactic final battle between Killmonger and Black Panther/T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman). Killmonger's wound is grave, but he doesn't actually die until, after an emotional moment between the two cousins, Killmonger removes the dagger from his chest. The scene is memorable largely for the dialogue, but for Xavier, it ended up being a critical lesson leading the child to leave the skewer in place until medical professionals could intervene.

That intervention included an hours-long surgery to remove the skewer, but Xavier is expected to make a near-complete recovery, according to director at the University of Kansas Health System Koji Ebersole.

"I have not seen anything passed to that depth in a situation that was survivable, let alone one where we think the recovery will be near complete if not complete," Ebersole told the Kansas City Star.

Black Panther, the winningest superhero movie in Academy Awards history with three Oscar wins, is available on home media now.

Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8th; Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

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