Frozen solid

McAdoo hypothermia survivor was clinically dead for 12 hoursDon Smith of McAdoo shook his son’s frozen body and cried.It was a father’s worst nightmare.“No! You can’t leave me,” he screamed.He’d just found Justin, 25, coatless and frozen in a snow bank near Tresckow Road in Carbon County.“He was lying there looking up in the sky,” Don said.“Seeing him in that condition … there’s no hope. He’s dead.”Don, a chemistry teacher at Hazleton Area High School, phoned Justin’s mother to let her know their son was gone.Their world had ended. Or so they thought.Night with friendsThe drama had begun so innocently.Justin had been missing about 12 hours after enjoying a few beers with friends at Tresckow Fire Company.Simply a few drinks, then a walk, presumably to home.It was 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2015, and the Schuylkill County man’s house was only 2 miles away. He was familiar with the territory along Tresckow Road. No big deal.But the February cold snap had dropped the mercury to minus 4.Justin blacked out while walking and fell into the snow.By the time his father discovered him the next day, he was frozen solid. His skin was blue.No pulse, no heartbeat, no blood pressure.He was so cold that paramedics couldn’t detect a body temperature.“The coroner was called. They put a sheet over him,” said Don.In fact, in the medical dispatch, hospital staff can be heard explaining in recorded audio: “He’s been dead a considerable amount of time.”But when paramedics on scene from APTS and McAdoo Fire and Ambulance contacted the command center at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton, they received orders from Gerald Coleman, DO, to begin CPR.A code blue was called and an additional 15 hospital staffers waited in the emergency room to try to do the impossible. Could they get his heart to beat again?“His chest wall was frozen solid,” Coleman said.“His extremities were like a block of concrete,” said a nurse.But they tried to warm Justin and perform CPR anyway.Blood treatmentAfter a few hours Justin was stillcold and so hospital staff decided to transfer him by MedEvac to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for a unique treatment.He was placed aboard the helicopter for an 18-minute flight, all the while being administered CPR. Despite best attempts, he still showed no signs of life.At Cedar Crest, Dr. James Wu, Lehigh Valley Health Network’s cardiothoracic surgeon, connected Justin to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). It’s a technology typically used as a last-ditch effort to save patients whose lungs and heart are damaged by the flu or a heart attack.“For all intents and purposes, he was clinically dead,” Wu said.Justin’s blood was warmed and treated.Eventually, his body responded. But it was touch-and-go. His kidneys and other organs weren’t working.“He started developing pulmonary edema. Then we had to support his lungs,” Wu said.In a coma, Justin spent 39 days in the hospital. At one point, his eyes began to move, indicating brain function.Little by little, Justin began to recover and was eventually discharged to Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network.Somehow he’d made it. And made medical history, too.“He survived the coldest core body temperature in North America,” Coleman said. “Never underestimate the power of hope and prayer.”Gut instinctAs for ordering the CPR that helped to save Justin’s life, Coleman said he simply trusted his gut instinct and felt that given Justin’s age, he might stand a chance to recover.Coleman said pronouncing him dead while he was frozen isn’t an option.“You have to be warm to be dead,” he said.Justin has permanent reminders of what took place. He developed gangrene and lost all of his toes plus his two pinky fingers.But he’s back to being himself, playing golf, cheering the Phillies, and taking online courses at Penn State.On Monday, he met with doctors, nurses and paramedics at Lehigh Valley Hospital locations in Hazleton and Allentown and spoke about his life-changing ordeal.“My first memory was waking up at Cedar Crest and seeing my mom and two sisters. I still can’t believe it. I’m so thankful.”Justin says he has no memory of anything that took place.“I’m just totally blank.”And what about near-death, out-of-body experiences?“No,” he said, laughing. “Nothing like that. Everybody is asking me about that.”Many are saying that what happened is a miracle. Justin was a human ice cube and lived to tell about it.He’s still adapting to walking without toes. Meanwhile, medical experts are examining record books.“Using the word miracle is not an exaggeration at all,” said John Fletcher, president, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton.Coleman agrees.“It’s one of the most amazing resuscitation efforts in modern medicine,” Coleman said.Dad Don is crying tears of relief and offering gratitude to paramedics, hospital staff and unseen angels.“Thank the good Lord for letting him live,” Don said.“It’s amazing to have him back.”