A 5-year-old Texas boy is finally headed home after spending nearly two months in the hospital to recover from a near-fatal cardiac arrest that led to more than an hour of CPR.
Owen Coulton received a “discharge party” on Feb. 7, with staff at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas cheering and supporters wearing shirts that read “Owen’s Superhero Squad,” according to theAustin American-Statesman.
Nearly two months earlier, on Dec. 13, Owen was rushed to the hospital with flu-like symptoms. However, when he got there, his health took a sharp turn for the worse.
“When he got here, it was just a few minutes till his heart stopped and he became unresponsive,” Dell Dr. Patrick Ryantold KTBC.
Medical staff performed CPR on Owen for 90 minutes, and Owen was revived about five times. Doctors then put Owen on a life-support machine — to help support his heart and lungs — and his heart began to beat on its own.
Over the next several weeks, Owen’s major organs slowly began to recover and he underwent physical therapy. He spent 56 days at the medical center. Doctors think a virus attacked Owen’s heart, but initial tests showed nothing wrong with the boy, according to the American-Statesman.
It all began a week before the incident, when Owen began experiencing flu-like symptoms, including a fever and puffy eyes, the publication reported.
All tests came back negative during a doctor’s visit. But when Owen began complaining that his legs hurt and his feet and ankles appeared purple, Kristin and her husband Darin rushed Owen to the hospital where he remained for almost two months.
Now, Owen’s family shares updates about his health on aFacebook paged titled #PrayingForOwen. In one, Kristin noted that the family has been adjusting to having Owen home.
“The next few days have been lots of relaxation, laughs, jammy days, legos, games, Nerf, movies and popcorn cuddles, and more cuddles,” Kristinwrote in one post.
“The kids have settled right back to normal routine but with the added excitement of taking turns pushing Owen around in his wheelchair, helping him with his walker, and making sure he’s safe while playing.”
The family is now looking for donations to cover Owen’s medical expenses, as he is still undergoing rehabilitation.
“Our little super hero is a fighter and SO brave,” relatives wrote ona GoFundMe pageset up for the family. “Owen has a long road ahead of him with a very lengthy and costly stay in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.”
source: people.com
