Toddler 101 Minutes CPR: Doctors Revive Toddler Pulled From Creek, Child Makes Full Recovery

A toddler received 101 minutes of CPR after falling into a creek near his home in Pennsylvania. According to 7 News, 22-month-old Gardell Martin was playing outside with his two older brothers when he fell into a nearby icy stream. The current pulled him away rather quickly, and by the time his 7-year-old brother told his mother what had happened, Gardell was nowhere in sight. A neighbor found the boy’s body about a half mile away.

When emergency crews arrived at the scene, Gardell’s body was “lifeless.” His temperature was just 77 degrees.

“An ambulance crew arrived moments later, found no pulse and began CPR. Resuscitation would continue, unbroken, for 101 minutes — in the ambulance, at a community hospital, aboard a medical helicopter and, finally, in the emergency room of Janet Weis, the pediatric wing of Geisinger Medical Centre, where a team of some 30 doctors and nurses sprang into action.”

The toddler was revived after 101 minutes of CPR, and doctors worked to warm his body to 82 degrees, not giving up on this boy’s life for a moment. It was then that they detected a pulse. Within a couple of hours, Gardell came to. Doctors were surprised to know that the child’s brain function had not been compromised.

“It’s not only extraordinarily rare that we got the kid back, but what’s even more extraordinary is the rate at which he recovered and the completeness of his recovery. The stars and moon aligned, and he had an angel on his shoulder,” said Dr. Frank Maffei, who helped save the boy’s life.

Over 50 members of the hospital staff at Geisinger’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital helped save Gardell.

According to Eyewitness News 3, Gardell is home from the hospital, and he’s doing well. He’s walking, talking, and doing all the other normal things that toddler’s do. His mother says that she isn’t sure how much her son actually remembers of the ordeal.

“It’s hard to tell how much he remembers or knows about what happened. He can’t really tell us in that way,” she said.

The toddler who received 101 minutes of CPR very well may be a miracle child. However, the staff that brought him back should be extremely proud of their efforts. Many people seem to forget the emergency personnel who play such an important role in cases like this one. Back in October, the Inquisitr reported that a police officer was credited with saving a child’s life by performing CPR on the young boy while en route to the hospital. Officer Patrick Hildenbrand did CPR while driving.

[Photo courtesy of YouTube]