Today In Court – Monday March 14, 2016

“Spontaneous Respiratory Effort”

… he could breath !!

Finally the truth! We now know what Ezekiel’s state was prior to arriving at the Alberta Children’s Hospital: He could breath. Yes, he was intubated and an airway was established and his heart was pumping again when the critical care response team arrived from Calgary. In their real-time action report the team writes that Ezekiel had spontaneous respiratory effort and muscle movement sufficient that the team thought it necessary to paralyze him during flight. So testified Dr. Burkholder.

Dr. Shawna Burkholder is a Pediatric Intensivist and was the team leader arranging the critical response protocols in Cardston and Lethbridge from Calgary. She directed her expert team to fly to Lethbridge to receive Ezekiel, prep him for flight, and monitor his trip to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. She promptly ordered a CT Scan for him and the Radiologist’s report stated results consistent with hypoxic insult. Those 8.5 minutes of oxygen deprivation that occurred when initial EMS arrived unequipped for an 18-month-old child did injure Ezekiel’s brain. Dr. Burkholder concurred that his cranial edema could not be attributed only to meningitis. The scan also showed no tonsillar herniation around the brain stem which questions the hypothesis prosecutors are attempting to build. So if Ezekiel could breath and move muscles once resuscitated, he wasn’t experiencing brain -stem-pressure related distress. Dr. Burkholder concluded that she could not say with certainty the cause of Ezekiel’s respiratory stoppage. Hiding in this trial is the truth. Please God shine your light.

Our hearts are breaking today that David and Colette had to hear for the first time of their son’s efforts to live 4 years to the day – only through this grievous and unjust prosecution.

“Life hurts a lot, but only love can hold you up forever” Cuddy