We as ***boat members thought that we would put out this story for any ***boat members that might have been at the Nautical Inn on Friday, 6/9/06 and are wondering what the outcome was for the little boy rushed to the hospital. This is our horrible story. We had just arrived at our boat in the nautical inn cove after running errands all morning. We bribed our kids with a fun afternoon on the boat if they were good and patient as we tended to business. We, my husband and I, were sitting outside the boat in the water watching the two kids play in the water. My 2 1/2 year old son, Ryan, decided he wanted to go in the boat. So as I have done over a hundred times I rinsed his feet and lifted him onto the boat. Shortly after, I didn't see or here him so I decided to go looking for him and figured he had fallen asleep, because he was SOOOO exhausted. I looked inside the boat and saw him standing at the counter that has a compartment at the top (what Advantage calls the ice chest). He had opened the lid and appeared to have just fallen asleep standing up. (This is not the most unusual position we have found him sleeping). We then starting taking pictures because I am an avid scrapbooker. Once we captured the pictures my husband decided to move him to a more comfortable position in hopes he would get a really good nap. This is when the horror began. As my husband lifted him up his face was as blue as a pepsi can. Immediately my husband ran and laid him down on the seat and tilted his head to clear an airwave and was about to begin CPR as I simutaniously started yelling for some who knew CPR. Immediately we had these two guys board our boat and identified themselves as off duty paramedics. (thank GOD for the firemans regatta) My son was in full arrest with no heartbeat and not breathing. They were able to jump start his heart with CPR and then continued rescue breathing on him. The ambulance showed up so quickly and all they had to do was load him up and take him away thanks to the fast acting off duty paramedics. We were at the Lake havasu hospital within 20 minutes from the start of this horrible ordeal. At the LH hospital they had to put Ryan on a breathing machine and induce a comma so he wouldn't run into any problems while they air lifted him and myself over the the Las Vegas childrens trauma center. As I was flying over the river, all I could think about was how many times I had seen that helicopter fly over while I was on the river and was always pointing it out to my children. I will forever stop and pray for the safety of whomever is on board when I see that helicopter from now on. Once we arrived they stabalized him and transfered him up to the NIC unit. In less than 12 hours they were able to take him off the breathing machine as he was breathing well on his own. By saturday night we were seeing definate signs of our precious little boy but I have to admit I was growing more and more concerned with brain damage as he was having difficulty with some motor skills. He was unable to put his hands together or even sit up for that matter. Saturday night was the first time I actually cried myself to sleep with worry. Sunday morning when I arrived at the hospital, my husband had left to reunite with our 5 year old daughter and bring her to visit her brother in Las Vegas before making the trip home with her grandparents, I walked into Ryan's room and he yelled mommy and lunged into my arms and gave me one of the biggest hugs I have ever had from him. I had tears running down my face and instantly called my husband because I knew he had the same concerns with brain damage as I did and I didn't want him worrying all morning about it knowing what a drastic change that had occured. As soon as Ryan regained speaking all he would talk about was going to the boat and the boat keys. (I think he felt cheated that he behaved so good while we ran errands and never did get his reward of a fun boat ride). The next step for Ryan was to get strong enough to walk before they would let him go home. So we began that journey. We dangled a spare set of boat keys (thank God we had them in the truck) in front of him and this gave him the determination to walk to get them. It is so funny how much this little guy already loves his boat (it must be a guy thing) because anytime he was getting upset with something the nurse was doing, I would just lean down and tell him to close his eyes and go on a boat ride with me. I would talk about how we put on his lifejacket and turn on the radio and have the warm air hitting us in the face. This seemed to put him at peace and take his mind off whatever they were doing. Less than 2 1/2 days after my son was clinically dead he was on his way home to california apparently 98% himself. They said with the swelling of the brain he is going to be irriatble, and let me tell you he is actually down right mean. But this is a side affect and not something that is permanent. I want to thank James, the Scottsdale paramedic who started my sons heart, Doug, the Peoria paramedic who did Ryans breathing for him, the man who took over the 911 call I placed after I got so frustrated with being put on hold 3 times, the lady from the boat next to us who came and gave me a hug and told me everything would be ok, the same lady from the boat next to us who also sat in the sand and played with my daughter, our dear friends Dan and Alberta and Mike and Trish who co-babysat our daughter in Havasu until we could reunite, to all the medical staff who had a part in Ryans success story and to all our family and friends and even the strangers who thought and prayed for his safe recovery. Words cannot express our gratitude. On our way up to havasu on Thursday night we stopped to help a motor home that was stuck on the side of the road, and I truly believe that help was given to us so quickly because we took the time to help someone else. (lesson learned) Also, please take the time whenever you see a firefighter/paramedic to thank them for doing their job, you just never know when it might be you they will be doing it for. Also the Ronald McDonald house put us and my parents up in Las Vegas, and wow what a wonderful program. If any of you drink alot out of cans, please keep the tabs and forward them to your local Ronald McDonald house. I can provided at least the Las Vegas address if anyone is interested.
Our heartfelt thanks again,
Ed, Kathy, Haley and Ryan Palaskis