WEST BUFFALO TOWNSHIP -- A 22-month-old boy is making a miraculous recovery just one week after he was found face down in a creek behind his home in Union County without a pulse.
Doctors say they worked tirelessly performing CPR on little Gardell Martin for nearly two hours last Wednesday. Newswatch 16 stopped by Gardell's home near Mifflinburg just as he was waking up from his nap. His family says their little boy's quick recovery is nothing short of a miracle.
Gardell Martin's big smile is a blessing to his family in West Buffalo Township near Mifflinburg.
"Every day is progress. Yesterday he started smiling and talking more and today he is walking on his own," said Rose Martin, Gardell’s mother.
Doctors say Gardell had no pulse last week when he was pulled from the creek behind his home. His family says the little boy was playing with his siblings when he went missing. A neighbor found Gardell face down in the creek. Emergency crews were called and immediately started CPR.
Starting at the creek near Mifflinburg to the time he made it to the emergency department at Geisinger, doctors say nearly 50 people helped revive the little boy.
"Right before we did one last pulse check and Dr. Lambert and I were checking pulse simultaneously and we looked at each other and said he's got a pulse," said Dr. Frank Maffei.
Gardell was flown to Geisinger's Janet Weis Children's Hospital near Danville where Dr. Maffei helped revive the boy. Dr. Maffei says emergency crews, doctors and nurses performed CPR non-stop for nearly two hours.
"In my 23 years I have not seen an hour and 41 minutes come back to this degree of neurological recovery. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because people are trained," said Maffei.
“Your fingers are wrapped around the rib cage and you are lifting on hand,” said Dr. Colleen Walsh.
Dr. Walsh teaches CPR classes at Geisinger. She showed us how emergency crews helped revive Gardell.
"Early, early, early CPR. I can’t say that enough. And the people going to be able to provide that are the ones that are there with the child taking care of them," said Dr. Walsh.
"The stars aligned for this little guy in you know multiple ways," said Dr. Maffei.
"Doctors were dumbfounded themselves, and to see how close to what he was before it's just God's hand there again," said Martin.
