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It took almost two hours of CPR, but 22-month-old Gardell Martin survived being swept away by the near-freezing waters of a swollen stream in Union County last week.

(Provided photo)

MIFFLINBURG -- The 22-month-old boy who fell and was swept away by a swollen stream last Wednesday may have been in the 34-degree water for as much as half an hour.

Doctors know that when he was found, he had no pulse and no respiration. For one hour and 41 minutes, rescuers administered CPR in a desperate effort to revive him.

That's why those same rescuers are using words like "amazing" and "miracle" to describe young Gardell Martin's return home five days later. He is healthy and giggling and playing again with his siblings.

"I've never experienced anything like this," Dr. Richard Lambert, a pediatric critical care specialist at Geisinger's Janet Weiss Children's Hospital near Danville, said of the resuscitation efforts.

The Union County toddler suffered no apparent neurological damage and was discharged Sunday.

He's smiling, talking on his own and asking questions, said his mother, Rose Martin, on Tuesday.

State police said the boy fell into a tributary of Buffalo Creek, outside Mifflinburg, about 6 p.m. March 11, while playing with two of his brothers.

A neighbor, Randall Beachel, found the boy unresponsive on a grassy knoll in the stream about a quarter of mile away.

As Beachel was carrying the boy back on Emery Road toward his house, a Mifflinburg ambulance arrived.

"He had no pulse and he was not breathing," said Dr. Frank Maffei, director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Geisinger.

Emergency personnel immediately began CPR, which continued uninterrupted as they rushed to Evangelical Community Hospital near Lewisburg, then boarded and a helicopter for a trip to Geisinger, where a team was waiting in the emergency room.

Many people were involved in administering CPR, because one person can only do it for a few minutes at a time before tiring, Maffei said.

Gardell's temperature when he arrived at Geisinger was 77 degrees, well below the normal temperature of 98.6 degree, he said. The boy did not have a pulse, but some cardiac activity was detected.

As CPR continued, doctors worked to warm the boy using a special blanket and injecting fluids. After 20 minutes, Gardell was moved to the operating room in preparation for being placed on a heart bypass machine.

But Maffei and Lambert detected a pulse, so they put off surgery and continued the resuscitation and warming efforts.

When the body temperature reached 90 degrees, it was decided to keep it there for 24 hours to protect his brain, Maffei said. Blood pressure medicine was administered, and Gardell was put on a ventilator, he said.

"He began doing things no one expected," Lambert said.

Maffei, who spent the first night at Gardell's bedside, said the boy opened his eyes about 2 a.m. Thursday.

Gardell's father, Doyle Martin, is a truck driver. He had just returned from Chicago and arrived at the hospital a short time later.

He called his son's name, asked him if he wanted to play truck, and Gardell opened his eyes again, the doctor said.

"It was overwhelming," the boy's mother said. "I just cried."

It was remarkable that Gardell could be discharged just five days later, Maffei said. He has broken ribs due to the CPR effort and a slight tremor, he said.

Gardell had no chance of surviving were it not for the CPR, Lambert said. His age and low body temperature also were factors, Maffei said.

Hypothermia protects the organs, because their oxygen and metabolic needs are less when they are cool, he explained.

Everything went the way it should have at Geisinger, he said. That included being able to quickly pump warm fluids into the boy's body, he said.

"Things that needed to happen, happened," Maffei said. "There was no feeling of desperation."

Most people, even youngsters his age, who survive what he went through have some brain damage. That does not appear the case with Gardell, Maffei said.

"It's a remarkable case," Lambert said.