Brain damage reversed in two-year-old after drowning accident

Eden Carlson was just two years old when she suffered brain damage after falling into the family swimming pool.

The accident happened in February of 2016. Eden was in the pool for over 10 minutes and was unresponsive when her Mum pulled her from the water. The toddler was rushed to the emergency room at Arkansas Children's Hospital where doctors continued to give the child CPR. She had been without a heart beat for almost two hours. Eventually Eden's condition stabilised, but she was still unresponsive and was thought to have extensive brain damage. Neither her kidneys or liver were working. Her parents were told that she would remain in a vegetative state, unable to walk, eat, speak, or respond to her surroundings. They took her home after five weeks in the hospital, with little hope for their daughter's future. Gradually, Eden's condition started to slowly improve as she began recognising her mother's voice, but her family were told to "wait and see" what the outcome would be. Doctors decided to use hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on Eden to see if it would improve her condition. The treatment is usually used to treat decompression sickness or carbon monoxide poisoning, but after 39 sessions the two-year-old's brain damage was almost fully reversed. Following treatment, Eden was able to laugh, eat, and hold things. She also regained much of her speech abilities and had drastically improved motor functions. The findings of Edens recovery were published in the Medical Gas Research journal. They detailed the process of the treatment itself which involved "... (putting) people in the chamber (and) stimulating gene expression that ends up healing wounds in the body.” Eden's family recently posted a video documenting their daughter's recovery on YouTube, calling her story "a miracle in the making." Images via YouTube.