Medical Miracles

Surviving a Spike Through the Head:

This may sound familiar, and there has been a very few cases just like this, but I am going to use the most famous medical miracle story of Phineas Gage. You may have heard of this story in a psychology class! In 1848, Phineas Gage was a supervisor in construction preparing a new railroad line. When preparing the railroad an explosion occurred, forcing a 3 feet 7-inch-long rod through his head, it entered in from his cheek and exited through the top of his head. The rod was removed and he survived! The reason you may have heard about this in a psychology class is because he experienced personality changes. Unfortunately, he did die eleven years after the accident, but it is a miracle he survived after removal of the rod.

Man Wakes up after 15 years in Vegetative State:

A man in France was in a horrific car accident in 2001 and was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. This means having no self-awareness of themselves or their environment. Angela Sirigu of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Bron and her colleagues attempted a trial, a technique that may bring the man out of his vegetative state. Of course, there is a formal way of explaining how this was done. But what their team performed was stimulation, or easier understanding, zapping the vagus nerve with an electrical current. No, this was not a one zap, patient is awake type thing. They had to do this over a period of 6 months and monitor his responses to the stimulation. But after just one month the man was defined as being in a minimal conscious state! Read the full story here!

Living without a Heart:

No heart? Well with advanced technology and very bright providers you can still possibly survive! In Miami, a teenager had been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart becomes weakened and enlarged, causing it not to pump blood efficiently. She had a transplant at Miami’s Holtz Children’s Hospital, which sadly failed. She was saved by a custom-built artificial blood-pumping device made by Thoratec Corp THOR.O of Pleasanton, California and survived 118 days without a heart, awaiting her transplant. Read more here!

Mosha:

We've seen people with prosthetic limbs, we have seen dogs with prosthetics, but have you seen an elephant with a prosthetic? I didn’t think so! Dr. Chloe Buiting aka the Jungle Doctor at the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital in northern Thailand, helps large and small animal amputees. She helped a seven-month-old elephant, Mosha, regain accessibility by creating a prosthetic for her front leg. In the making of this large prosthetic, she had help from orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jivacate and the team at FAE. This hospital is its first of its kind, they help Asian Elephants who lost limbs due to landmines. Read the full story here!

Held Together by Eleven Metal Rods:

Imagine snapping your back, puncturing both lungs, breaking your neck, pelvis, left leg and several ribs, then being told there is a risky procedure that can save your life. This happened to model Katrina Burgess, she was in a car crash going 70 mph and was told she may never walk again but is now held together by eleven metal rods. Surgeons at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset, placed a rod from her hip to her knee in her left leg secured with four titanium pins. A week later six more horizontal rods were placed up the length of her back. One more week later they inserted a titanium screw to the top of her spine, supporting her broken neck. She was able to walk again after three weeks! Read more of the story here!

An Extra Chamber:

Our heart has four chambers, but for this living miracle he contained five chambers. At age 42, he was not aware of his heart condition even though he experienced breathing difficulties, constant coughing and chest pain. He was diagnosed with a rare congenital disease (a disease present from birth), and a team of cardiologists went forward with a complicated operation on the patient. The surgery was successful, and the living miracle is alive and well to live decades more! Read more here: Read more here!

Four-Year-Old Girl is able to see again:

Blinded by the Flu, a four-year-old girl has regained her eyesight and her recovery is miraculous! Jade DeLucia did not receive a flu-shot, and unfortunately got sick with the flu at the end of the year. After experiencing a seizure and becoming unconscious, she was diagnosed with acute necrotizing encephalopathy, causing brain swelling. Her mother, Amanda Phillips, told CNN, “They said she had significant brain damage. They said our child might not ever wake up, and if she did, she might not ever be the same,”. She woke up and had no eyesight, but after two months she was able to see again! Even though she still shows signs of brain damage, she is a happy child and continues to strive! Read more of her story here.

Hindu Goddess:

In India a girl was born with four arms and four legs, she was named Lakshmi after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth. Come to find out, Lashmi had a twin that had fused with her body in the womb! Doctors performed a 27-hour long surgery to remove the extra limbs and reconstruct her systems. Three months after her procedure she gained her mobility again and was able to walk with a walker! Read more here!