Surfing icon Bethany Hamilton has called for a medical miracle for her ‘beautiful’ nephew, who is fighting for his life in Hawaii.
Bethany’s three-year-old nephew, Andrew, was found unconscious and not breathing in a bathtub. He was medically evacuated to Kapiolani on Oahu Saturday morning.
According to his worried family, the young man still has a heartbeat and is “fighting inside him” but is currently in intensive care following the drowning incident.
Shark attack survivor Bethany, 34, said: “We are devastated.” But I know how the right medical support can make or break a person’s chances of survival.
“In this case we are asking for help from anyone who has information on what we can do to give my nephew the best chance.”
Bethany’s brother Noah, who is not Andrew’s father, also asked people for prayers and called his little nephew a “strong, resilient boy” and an “incredible swimmer.”
Surfing icon Bethany Hamilton posted Saturday that she needed a medical miracle for her nephew who drowned in Hawaii.
His brother Noah Hamilton said his nephew Andrew was found not breathing in the shallow water of a bathtub.
He wrote: ‘Please join us in praying for my brother’s fifth youngest son, Andrew, as he flew to Oahu in the middle of the night.
He is three and a half and five years old. He is a strong, resilient boy and an incredible swimmer. They found him not breathing in the shallow water of the bathtub. His vital signs were enough to get him to Oahu.
The family was able to contact Dr. Paul Harch, a world-renowned expert in hyperbaric oxygen therapy in cases of drowning children.
It was his son who notified Bethany under his title: ‘Dr. Harch is my father. I just sent you a message with his cell phone number. He wants you to call him. Sending lots of love to you and your family.”
HBOT It involves a patient breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber. It aims to increase the level of oxygen dissolved in the bloodstream, which could help heal brain tissue.
In an extraordinary case, Harch was able to reverse 2-year-old Eden Carlson’s brain damage after she pushed her way through a baby gate and a heavy gate, then jumped into the family pool in Arkansas in February 2017. .
When her mother found her, she was lying face down and motionless.
After two hours of CPR and 17 EpiPen injections, her heart began beating again, but doctors warned she would be confined to a vegetative state for the rest of her life.
Andrew (pictured in the bottom row, center, surrounded by his family) was medically evacuated to Kapiolani on Oahu Saturday morning and still has a heartbeat, according to Bethany.
In the photo: little Andrew and his family, who ask for prayers after the tragedy.
In the photo: Dr. Paul Harch. In an extraordinary case, Harch was able to reverse 2-year-old Eden Carlson’s brain damage after she pushed her way through a baby gate and a heavy gate, then jumped into the family pool in Arkansas in February 2017. .
Now, in what is believed to be a world first, Eden runs, talks and laughs as energetically as before after undergoing 40 rounds of oxygen therapy.
The results were so clear and Eden’s MRIs improved so clearly that her case was published in a medical journal, Medical Gas Research.
The therapy is not approved by the FDA and is not covered by insurance.
Bethany is best known for a shark attack at age 13 that nearly derailed her career.
In 2003, while surfing off the coast of Kauai with a friend’s family, a 14-foot tiger shark tore off his left arm, just below the shoulder.
The others were able to swim her to shore and put a tourniquet on her, but by the time she got to the hospital she had already lost 60 percent of her blood.
A tiger shark that was captured and killed shortly after the attack had pieces of a surfboard lodged in its jaws, and was later determined to have been the attacking shark.
Despite her devastating injury, Bethany took less than a month to recover before returning to surfing, and had her first professional competition after the attack in 2004.
Their hopes were fulfilled when they were able to contact Dr. Paul Harch, a world-renowned expert in hyperbaric oxygen therapy for child drowning.
Bethany is best known for a shark attack at age 13 that nearly derailed her career.
In the most recent update, Bethany (pictured) wrote that they were looking for a doctor who specialized in the hyperbaric chamber in Queens or Kuakini on Oahu and if anyone knew any information they should contact her.
Social media users sent warm wishes to the family.
One wrote: ‘Miracles are real! Our 13-year-old daughter drowned while participating in a breath-holding contest with her friends. She passed out and was underwater for at least 10 minutes before being discovered.
‘Prayers, CPR and significant medical intervention brought her back to us. We were lucky that she made an almost complete recovery. Praying for your family.’
Another wrote: ‘He has a heartbeat. Hallelujah, claiming air in your lungs and your brain lobes remain intact.
In the most recent update yesterday, Bethany wrote that they were looking for a doctor who specializes in the hyperbaric chamber in Queens or Kuakini on Oahu and if anyone knew any information, please contact them.