The unnamed boy, who is 14 years old, left family and friends fearing for his life after he jumped into the Naviglio Canal near Milan, Italy, last month, and failed to resurface.
The teen’s friends naturally panicked when they were unable to find him, and after searching the canal’s waters, they contacted emergency services for help.
A team of divers arrived promptly at the scene, and after an extensive search, they managed to located the teenager – 42 minutes after he had entered the water.
The boy was airlifted to hospital, where he was reportedly treated using Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation; this is a procedure whereby an artificial lung outside of the body is used to pump oxygenated blood into the body.
Although the boy had to undergo an amputation below the right knee due to subsequent circulation problems, he has managed to make a full recovery.
Commenting on his ‘miraculous’ recovery, Alberto Zangrillo of the hospital where the boy was treated, told local media: “It was an exceptional event; the kind that makes us think that some parameters regarding survival in a state of hypoxia [reduced oxygen supply] must be revised.”
What an incredible story. We hope the boy is doing well after his ordeal.
