Living surrounded by pools and the ocean, many children in South Florida grow up learning to swim to prevent the unthinkable. But experts warn of another dangerous — and potentially deadly — threat lurking under the water: shallow water blackout.
That nightmare scenario played out for a local family back in June. They say that if it wasn’t for the instant actions by family members and neighbors the outcome could have been so much worse.
Dylan Smith is an 8-year-old adventure seeker who could be described as a ball of energy. He loves to chase reptiles and loves playing basketball and to swim, his family said.
In June, the boy was swimming the length of his pool – back and forth – holding his breath the whole way, his mother, Tiffany Graver-Smith, recalled.
He succeeded a few times, she said, but then the house became too quiet.
“It got really eerie and quiet. My house is never that quiet,” Graver-Smith said. “It made me look up and I saw Dylan in the corner of the pool.”
That’s when Dylan’s father, Brandon Smith, ran over to see what was happening.
“I just see Dylan lifeless,” Brandon Smith said. “Water was coming out of his mouth and nose. I just instantly jumped in the pool and grabbed Dylan from Tiffany. I said a quick prayer, and I laid him on the edge of the shallow end of the pool and just started CPR.”
Dylan Smith nearly drowned even though he knows how to swim, his family said.
He experienced something called a shallow water blackout.
What is a shallow water blackout?
“If we’re not conditioned, every single person will have a different tolerance level, and they may not have the energy to go up and rise,” Dr. Asumthia S. Jeyapalan explained. “The amount of oxygen in their blood is too low. They pass out in the water and they drown.”
Dylan Smith was eventually rushed to Holtz Children’s Hospital.
Jeyapalan and Dr. Kathryn Swaby were part of his care team. But, his prognosis was grim.
“Dr. Swaby, who I love and adore, she said to us, ‘You may not go home with your son,'” Graver-Smith said. “I remember being really mad at her for saying that because I was like, ‘Don’t give up on my son yet.'”
Swaby said that submersion injuries are so severe that most children don’t make it out of the hospital.
Treatment called therapeutic hypothermia helped save boy’s life
“So, the fact that he was able to wake up and to respond to instructions and to remember things with his dad, like remembering the handshake that he and his dad used to do, was just incredible on its own,” Swaby said. “Then to really see him continue to grow and improve and get back to a near normal state is really such a miracle.”
Doctors used a treatment called therapeutic hypothermia – cooling Dylan Smith’s body in an effort to reduce additional injuries to his brain.
Somehow, his MRI came back clear. But he had a long road to recovery ahead of him.
Dylan Smith spent more than two months in the hospital. Doctors said he needed to relearn how to walk and talk, and even breathe correctly.
“Dylan is truly one of a kind,” Physical Therapist Kyle Zreibe said. “A lot of it is his hard work and his determination to want to do things.”
Despite near-drowning, South Florida boy still loves the water
The rehabilitation center has a pool, and Dylan Smith didn’t hesitate to get right back into the water. He still loves the water and is looking for his next big adventure, his family said.
“He’s so happy,” his parents said. “He doesn’t say, ‘Why?’ He’s just chasing the fun.”
Dylan’s parents said they can’t stress enough the importance of knowing how to do CPR. Dylan’s father started compressions immediately, but said that if it hadn’t been for their daughter running to find a neighbor for help, Dylan may not have made it.
That neighbor is in the medical field and kept the CPR going until first responders arrived.
They now say that she is part of their family for life.
