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Thats an awesome story.
I haven't posted in this thread but I've been following Aidan since CaptMike first told us about him. It's heart wrenching to read, my thoughts are with Aidan and his family.
I wasn't sure if I should post this in this thread or start another one. It brings hope, children do recover from near drowning. Please move if it doesn't belong here.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/m...ssa-settlement
Settlement brings hope for 'miracle baby'
Fullerton family focuses on daughter's recovery from near-drowning after reaching settlement with hospital, doctor.
By GREG HARDESTY
FULLERTON – Melissa Jespersen keeps the do ent in a folder. She plans to show it to her daughter someday – maybe when she graduates from high school.
For now, Jespersen and Mackayla, 6, have a lot of work to do.
Jespersen holds up two flash cards. One reads "Mommy," the other "Daddy."
"M-o-m-m-y,'' Jespersen says.
Her daughter points an index finger at her and giggles.
"Muh," Mackayla says, struggling to complete the word.
Nearly 4 ½ years after Mackayla, then 20 months, slipped unnoticed into the family swimming pool while her mother was dressing one of her other two daughters, her family continues to devote most of their time to nursing her damaged brain back to health.
Progress has been dramatic for the girl doctors expected to be blind, deaf and in a permanent vegetative state after her near-drowning in Fullerton on Nov. 7, 2003.
Mackayla wasn't supposed to survive the accident – if fact, on paper at least, she didn't survive.
Now, with a time-consuming legal case behind them, the Jespersens can focus on her rehabilitation.
"I say she's going to walk by the end of the year," Melissa Jespersen says.
It's difficult not to believe her, considering how far her daughter has come: Mackayla had been pronounced dead. The coroner was only minutes away from arriving at the hospital to put her in a body bag.
SETTLEMENT
Last week, the Jespersens reached a settlement with Anaheim Memorial Medical Center and Dr. Richard I. Oxman on the day their medical malpractice lawsuit was to go to trial in Santa Ana.
Terms were not disclosed. One expert said Mackayla would need $22 million for lifelong medical care. The settlement was nowhere near that, the Jespersens said.
"The settlement will assist in Mackayla's lifelong needs, as long as our insurance stays in place," her father, Gabriel Jespersen, said. "None of this money will make us rich."
The Jespersens' attorney, R. Brian Oxman, said he was "extremely pleased" with the settlement. He is not related to the co-defendant, whose attorney could not be reached.
William Ginsburg, an attorney for Anaheim Memorial, said: "Anaheim Memorial...is saddened by the tragedy, but really and truly had no responsibility for the outcome. Parental failure to supervise leading to Mackayla languishing for 15 minutes, face down in the pool, caused the damage, and sadly it is irreversible."
Gabriel Jespersen's insurance through his employer, DHL Worldwide Express, as well as Medi-Cal, is paying for most of Mackayla's health care. The settlement will cover a shortfall of several thousand dollars a year for special treatment and equipment, Gabriel Jespersen said.
The Jespersens blame the hospital and Dr. Oxman for negligently leaving Mackayla unattended for more than an hour after she was pronounced dead – a lapse they believe left her with permanent brain damage.
They blame the hospital for not properly warming her body to detect vital signs, according to the lawsuit.
Mackayla fell into the pool at around 9 a.m. at her home on West Baker Avenue. Melissa Jespersen found her at 9:06 a.m. and called police. She breathed into her mouth.
Paramedics arrived at 9:19 a.m. and tried to revive her. Mackayla arrived at the hospital at 9:27 a.m. She was pronounced dead at 10:06 a.m.
According to the lawsuit, Mackayla's mother, father and grandmother told doctors and nurses they saw and heard her breathing after they were told she had died.
It wasn't until 11:20 a.m. that doctors took action to revive her after a Fullerton detective, Michael Kendrick, also saw her breathing and summoned help, the lawsuit alleges.
Melissa Jespersen believes Mackayla may have recovered – or suffered far less grievous damage – had she not been left alone on a gurney, her breathing tube disconnected, for one hour and 14 minutes.
The Jespersens were in the process of building a fence around the pool when Mackayla fell in. Police ruled the near-drowning an accident, and the Jespersens were not charged.
Mackayla's recovery after the near-drowning sparked talk of a "miracle baby."
After she was transported to Children's Hospital of Orange County in Orange, a physician there said her recovery defied medical logic.
HOPE
Recoveries from brain injuries are notoriously difficult to predict, but the Jespersens believe that one day, Mackayla will be walking and talking on her own.
Her injuries cause her brain to misfire, preventing her body from doing what the brain tells it to do.
Through intense physical treatment that includes sessions in an oxygen-rich hyperbaric chamber, Mackayla has learned to eat through her mouth, utter sounds and a few words (including "go," "Coke" and "gogurt") and laugh, smile and point.
She can crawl but needs to be held at her hips to walk. Her twin sister, Mackenzy, and sister Brooklyn, 9, help coax her along 10 feet of parallel bars in her living room.
Mackayla's hands grasp the bars for support.
"Almost there! Almost there!'' Mackenzy says.
She makes it, then hugs her father.
Melissa Jespersen pulls out the do ent she plans to show Mackayla someday.
The "Record of Death" notes the time and date of her death and the cause: "full arrest" due to "s/p (for swimming pool) immersion."
Melissa Jespersen puts the do ent back into a folder.
"Pretty eerie, isn't it?" she says.
Her girls want snacks.
The three sisters attack strawberry Italian ice pops with glee, transforming their grins into red, sticky messes.
"Just wait," Melissa Jespersen tells a visitor. "She's going to grow up and get married. And you'll be invited to her wedding."
Donations can be sent to Mackayla through the organization Recycle 4 Charity. Visit www.recycle4charity.org.
Thats an awesome story.
that's a lot of money
this thread is only for positive discussion, pimpo. take this trash elsewhere!
can anyone give an update on this...??
yeah dog
It appears from the blogspot that Aidan's recovery is going well.
I hope this progress continues and will continue to pray for his recovery.
It's fantastic to see the miracle God is working within this child.
Awesome. I give God praise for the progress. If anyone knows a little more, please update.
lol, praise god!
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