11 year old drowned boy, Christopher Dixon

This is a remarkable story that is posted here because it reinforces the principle of best outcome with earliest HBOT intervention after an injury or lack of blood flow.  The story is now over 24 years old.  The case was presented at a national scientific meeting in 1998, but garnered no attention.  In light of the publication of little Eden Carlson’s drowning episode in Medical Gas Research in 2017 the present story is even more important.

At the time of Chris’ drowning Dr. Harch had treated a dozen or more drowned children.  The first in 1989 was a little boy, Johnnie, from New Orleans who drowned in Florida while on vacation.  HBOT was begun at some point after hospital discharge in Florida and Dr. Harch continued his treatment when he came home over one month after the drowning episode.  All of the other children up to the time of Christopher were one year or more after their drowning.  While neurological and cognitive improvements were demonstrable in these children, they were not as significant as those in children who were treated sooner after their drowning.  Of now more than 100 drowned children that Dr. Harch has treated Christopher experienced the most remarkable outcome, a return to normal.  Dr. Harch does not dispute Christopher’s mother Marilyn’s attribution of Christopher’s recovery to a miracle and “God’s hand…”, as the article states, Dr. Harch believes the rapid administration of HBOT helped considerably.  It is also consistent with the scientific information worldwide that has shown a powerful effect of HBOT delivered within hours of loss of blood flow to restore neurological function.

On July 4^th, 1997 the country was in the midst of the usual summer heat wave.  Dr. Harch was having dinner with his family when he received an emergent phone call from Betty Remel, the hyperbaric technician that worked with Dr. Harch for 10 years in Slidell, Louisiana where the earliest neurological cases were treated.  She was now working at Methodist Hospital in New Orleans East as the chief hyperbaric technician.  She called Dr. Harch at the request of ER physician Dr. John Langley who wanted to see if HBOT could help Christopher.  A few years earlier Dr. Langley was the ER doctor in an Uptown New Orleans hospital when two merchant seamen had jumped into the hold of a cargo ship to unload cargo and suffered immediate unconsciousness.  Thinking that a poisonous gas or “dead air” (air with no oxygen) was responsible he transferred the seamen to JoEllen Smith Medical Center where Dr. Harch was attending in the hyperbaric medicine unit.  Both seamen were treated and experienced a significant recovery of function.  Remembering these two seamen Dr. Langley thought that HBOT would benefit Christopher.  He was right.

Betty called Dr. Harch to get recommendations on dosing the HBOT.  Dr. Harch gave recommendations on dosing Christopher.  Unfortunately, because Christopher was heavily sedated the effect of that single HBOT could not be immediately appreciated.  It was after the sedatives and other medication were removed the next day that the effect of the single HBOT was apparent. Christopher was discharged from the hospital within a few days of waking up.  When school opened in August he returned to school.  Methodist Hospital featured his story the following spring in their community health magazine.

To put this in perspective no one who sustains a 15 minute submersion/drowning returns to normal neurological function after they are resuscitated.  In the equivalent situation, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (someone who has a heart attack and their heart stops), if the patient does not get CPR, medication, and electricity (shock the heart with a defibrillator) within 12 minutes or so of the arrest the death rate is 100%.  For those who are resuscitated they usually have profound neurological injury.  Christopher is the rare exception.  He had the benefit of HBOT… and “ God’s hand.”

Paul G. Harch, M.D.

Against All Odds

Near-drowning victim experiences “miraculous” recovery

Published by Vim & Vigor – Methodist Hospital’s Community Health Magazine
Spring 1998

By Patricia Fitzmorris Danflous

Eleven-year-old Christopher Dixon is a whiz at video games, especially “Killer Instinct.”  He plays basketball hour after hour when he’s not riding his bike or skating.  He worries a little bit about a history test next week or a math assignment.  After all, the first year of middle school is important.  You might say that Christopher is like any other seventh grader.  He’s not, Christopher Dixon is a miracle child.

Of course, he doesn’t say that.  The Alfred Lawless student doesn’t really remember anything special that happened to him, and he sure wishes his mother, sisters, brother and other relatives would stop fussing over him.  But they know he’s special; they know that God’s hand saved his life.

“It’s a miracle that Christopher is alive today,” says his mother, Marilyn Dixon.  “And a greater miracle that his brain is not damaged,” adds his aunt Vera Blunt.

“The doctors at Methodist Hospital gave us little hope,” says his mother.  “But they kept working on him, trying everything to get him to wake up.  Maybe God heard my prayers or maybe He just decided to give a little more help to the doctors and nurses so that they wouldn’t give up.”

Christopher drowned on the Fourth of July.

Christopher and Marilyn Dixon

When his family arrived at a cousin’s apartment complex for a celebration party, he was in the pool within minutes.  He jumped in, came up and went back down.  He didn’t come back up and no one could see him.  The pool was dirty and had several broken pipes.

Monique, Christopher’s sister, searched under the water for him without success, while his cousin, Deonne Jones, pleaded for help from anyone.  No one answered the call for help.  Hearing the other children’s cries, Dixon called 911.  “Then two young men came out of nowhere – Andre Totapo and Alex Scott,” says Dixon.  “Andre borrowed someone’s goggles and searched for Christopher.”

By the time Christopher was pulled to the surface, Christopher had been underwater for at least 15 minutes.  He had no pulse and wasn’t breathing.  My older daughter applied CPR, with Andre’s help, until the police, firemen and ambulance arrived,” Dixon says.  “They got a faint heartbeat, but he was unconscious.”

“When Christopher arrived at the Methodist Hospital emergency department, he had been unconscious for quite a while and we were not sure how long he had been under the water,” says Methodist Hospital emergency physician John Langley, M.D.  “Although the prognosis did not look promising, we began a comprehensive set of tests while making sure that he was properly ventilated.

“In the emergency department, we have a commitment and responsibility to do everything possible for all of our patients, but when it is a child, you really want to make sure that you try every option, and a few more,” Langley says.

For Methodist Hospital physicians, that extra step included prescribing oxygen therapy treatment in the hospital’s hyperbaric medicine unit.  “Hyperbaric medicine is not one of the routine indications for a drowning victim,” notes Gary Danos, M.D., one of the unit’s medical directors.  “In this case, however, we felt it might give Christopher an edge.

Danos, Christopher’s pediatrician Louis Bevrotte, M.D., and Methodist Hospital chaplain Paul Durbin escorted the family to the hyperbaric medicine unit and helped to explain the process that would 100 percent pure oxygen throughout his body.  “Christopher was in the hyperbaric chamber for an hour and a half as we continued to monitor his vital signs,” says Danos.

The Methodist family has a special interest in Christopher.  His grandmother, Addie Dixon, retired from the hospital after more than 23 years of service, and his aunt Linda Johnson, is a current employee.  “It seemed everyone at Methodist stopped by to offer comfort,” Dixon recalls.  “They all wanted to do just a little bit more to help him.”

Following an hour and a half treatment in the chamber, Christopher was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Tulane University Medical Center.

“You want to be encouraging and offer hope, but there is also a time to be realistic,” says Chaplain Durbin.  This was a case in which the doctors were giving lilt, if any hope.  We prayed with the family, but I told his mother that Christopher was in God’s hands and it was uncertain if he would recover.”

It was Sunday July 6, two days after the drowning, when Christopher woke up.  “I went in to talk to Christopher and hold his hand,” Dixon recalls.  “It was ice cold and I tried to warm him up.  ‘Chris, this is Mama, can you hear me?’ I said.  He opened his eyes.  I couldn’t believe it and neither could the doctors.”

Christopher had been unconscious for almost 48 hours and woke up feeling fine, aside from exhaustion, a sore throat from a breathing tube and no memory of what had happened.  Christopher was wide awake, defying the odds.

“This is a miracle,” says Methodist Hospital vice president of patient services Carol Beck, R.N.  “When a person is underwater for such a long time, the usual outcome is death or severe brain damage.  Christopher’s recovery is miraculous.”

Doctors and nurses are still amazed.  “We did everything that could be done for Christopher but were not sure if there would be a positive outcome.” Langley comments.

After Chris woke up, his neurological responses were immediately tested.  The young boy was asked to wiggle his left toe, wiggle his right toe, move his right hand, move his left hand and turn his head from side to side.  Everything was normal.  Several CAT scans and routine physical examinations, including speech and physical therapy evaluations, all proved the same results – Christopher had not suffered and damage other than some memory loss and physical weakness.

“One of his eyes had a red spot in it, but that was it.” Says Dixon.  “We think he may have cut himself when he first jumped in the pool.”

“Christopher continues to show no signs of his near-fatal experience,” adds Bevrotte.  “This is one special boy.”

Some might call it luck, some would say medicine can do wonderful things, but the Dixon Family just says, “Thank you, God, and thank you to all the doctors and nurses who wouldn’t give up.”

Drowning-Chris Dixon Methodist Article