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Life After Third Degree Burns For Three Year Old
Mon, October 5, 2015
For the past 3 months, 3 year-old Dylan Pop, and his mother, who live in Big Falls, Toledo, have been in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. He was receiving specialized medical care at the Shriners Hospital for Children. He arrived there with 3rd degree burns to 40% of his body, injuries he suffered in late June, when he accidentally fell into a pot of boiling water that his mother was preparing lunch with.

The burns he suffered were already life-threatening, but in Dylan's case, he was born with multiple cardiac complications. The burns made his case far more complicated because they were putting stress on his already compromised heart.

So, the Burn Victim Mercy Fund and the Gift of Life, Belize teamed up to get him and his mother from the KHMH to Shriners Hospital in Boston where he arrived in a frail and fragile state. The doctors gave him a 50% chance of survival, but with their expertise, and a stroke of great fortune, he received care for the burns, and life-saving surgery for his congenital heart defect.

On Saturday, he arrived home with his mother at the PGIA after months of worry. We spoke with his mother who could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Here's how she explained his near-miraculous recovery:

Daniel Ortiz
"Seeing your son suffering, seeing the difficulty he was going through, and knowing that his life was in danger. As a parent what is that like?"

Marina Moh, Dylan's Mother
"Well it was very serious when he got burned from home. From home he got burned and they sent us to Punta Gorda hospital and from there we spent so much time and they sent us to Belize City hospital and we stayed there for 4 days and then they sent us to Shriners Hospital in Boston. So he was really sick. He could not talk, he could not cry, he could not open his eyes. He was really swollen due to that burn that he got from home. When he got to Shriners Hospital, the doctors they tried their best, but they also told me that they were not really sure if he was going to make it. It's 50/50. He had 30 degrees burn and due to his heart he could not make it, but still they were waiting. First they told me that he was going to get skin surgery. On the second day that we were there they could not do it, due to his heart. They waited until a week until everything got healed. They still say that they will have the skin surgery for him, but he did not get it done. It healed on its own and the nurses and the doctors say that he had like a miracle. From just waiting for not going for any surgery, it took like a month to get healed and then after that they work on his heart."

Daniel Ortiz
"The last you saw your son, his health was fast deteriorating. The doctors gave him a 50/50 percent chance of survival. What was it like seeing him arrived back in Ladyville at the PGIA in full health like almost nothing has happened to him?"

Donicio Pop - Dylan's Father
"It's excited and without the help of Mrs. Burke, we wouldn't have gotten him back. If he would have stayed in Belize, I think we would have lost him."

Dylan's treatment was made possible through Gift of Life Belize, the Burn Victim Fund, the Ray Tye Foundation, and the medical staff at Shriners Hospital.

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