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is dateline. >> shes the little girl that one hard in a big -- city >> they called you the miracle baby, why did they call you. that >> shot in the head at point blank range, a crime scene that shocked, even hardened police. >> dorothy explorer pillow and it had blood on it. as she fought to live, this detective vowed to catch whoever left her, soon he turned up a promising lead. >> bells and whistles go off in my head. in the hospital she battled back. >> to know that she had survived...

Fragments from erikas head and repair the wounds and preserve brain function, if possible. erika actually was lucky in one way. the angle of the bullet wasnt straight through the brain but downward exiting through her chin. >> what a blessing. >> reporter: and the doctor was relieved the bullet only struck the brains frontal lobe which can absorb injury especially in young children. >> its truly remarkable. >> reporter: after a delicate three and a half hour surgery, the doctor was encouraged by...

That the bullet only struck the brains frontal lobe, which can absorb injury better, especially in the very young. >> less than 3 years old, the brains ability to repair is truly remarkable. >> after a delicate 3 1/2 hour surgery, dr. moriarty was encouraged by comparison scans of ericas brain. the bullet and brain fragments in the pre-op image were gone. despite the repair, brain injuries are unpredictable and dr. moriarty urged caution. >> next few days in the icu would be critical. >> panning...

>> the mission was to clean the fragments from ericas head, repair the wounds and preserve brain function, if possible. erica was lucky in one way. the angle of the bullet wasnt straight through the brain, but downward, exiting under her chin. >> what a blessing as opposed to the bullet damaging everything. >> and dr. moriarty was relieved that the bullet only struck the brains frontal lobe. >> less than 3 years old, the brains ability the repair is truly remarkable. >> after the delicate three ...

>> surgeons life saving mission was to clean the fragments from her head, clear the wounds and preserve brain function if possible. she was lucky in one way. the angle of the bullet wasnt straight down the brain, but exiting downward through her chin. >> what a blessing. as opposed to going through and damaging and destroy everything. >> doctor was relieved the bullet only struck the brains frontal lobe which can absorb injury better especially in the very young. >> less than three years old, th...