Matthew

Mandi, Mother of Matthew

Location: California, USA

Phone: (559) 360-9177

Age at time of Accident: 2 years 10 months

Date of Accident: November 8, 2004

Where accident happened: Backyard Swimming Pool

Therapies Tried:

November 8, 2004 was the worst day of my life. I got called out of class to find out that my son was found face down in our swimming pool. I rushed to the hospital and learned that he was breathing on a ventilator and they were in the process of transferring him to a children's hospital. A few hours later we were on our way to Stanford University where we would spend the next three weeks fighting for my son's life. He slowly lost all of his brain stem reflexes, the doctors told us to give up. There was never a time where I could. He eventually got some of the reflexes back, enough to give us hope.

We transferred Matthew back to Children's Hospital Central California in Madera, closer to our home, friends and family. There we got him to come off the ventilator but, he did not hold his stats very well so we decided to have a tracheotomy placed for him to have a better airway. He was very stiff and was starting to curve backwards into a C like shape, so we decided to put a pump that directly dispenses the muscle relaxer medication, Baclofen into his body automatically. The pump helped him relax his body completely. We are thankful for just that.

He is currently at home with me in Fresno, and he is not on a ventilator, but breathes room air which the doctors never thought he would. He is very aware of his environment, he hears us talk to him and he looks at me when I do. We are in the process of doing Hyperbaric Oxygen with him because we seen it help other kids in the past. We have to feel like we tried everything for our shining star. He is still a little fighter, the doctors did not think he would live, but there is a plan for Matthew and only God knows what it is.

If you are reading this because of a similar situation, please hang in there, it will be the hardest time in your life but, if you have faith and believe, you will get through it. The past six months have been hard, it is gradually getting better, and our hope is strong for our little Matthew.

With Great Hope

Mandi, Mother of Matthew