A 5-year-old boy in Minnesota is fighting for his life in the wake of a heroic act that saved his younger brother’s life on Easter.
After Ashkan Thibodeaux’s younger brother, Wyatt, slipped and fell into “icy water” while the siblings were “exploring” by a creek in Itasca County, Minn., on Sunday, April 5, Ashkan went in after his little brother, per a GoFundMe.
“Ashkan didn’t hesitate for a second. He saw the danger and jumped in to save his brother, guiding him to safety and saving his life,” the fundraiser, which was created to cover the little boy’s medical costs and help the child’s family, reads.
The 5-year-old — who suffered brain damage as a result of the incident — was hospitalized the same day, and is now “fighting for his own life,” his family said on CaringBridge, a platform dedicated to health journeys. He has undergone several surgeries, had several organs removed and has shown signs of improvement, which his loved ones have documented via updates on the platform.
Emergency personnel, including firefighters, ambulance crews and deputies with the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office, all performed CPR on Ashkan after he was removed from the water, according to his family. They continued life-saving measures on the boy for six hours as he was transported to a Minneapolis children’s hospital.
The Itasca County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, April 19.
Within 30 minutes of his arrival at the hospital, Ashkan’s family says hospital staff placed the child on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) — a form of life support used in “life-threatening heart and lung conditions,” per Mayo Clinic.
Staff were later able to “dial back” the ECMO support — which provides “short-term help when the body can’t provide the tissues with enough oxygen and blood flow,” per Mayo Clinic — and eventually, remove it altogether, according to his family.
Ashkan has had multiple surgeries, including an initial major internal organ surgery, during which his “appendix and sections of his colon and small intestine” were removed, per a CaringBridge update. “It’s hard to hear doctors talk about removing parts of organs, but they reᴀssured us that full recovery is still possible for this area of his digestive system,” his family said.
On April 10, Ashkan’s family shared that he does not have any “major brain damage,” though he “does have specks of damage across the different areas of his brain.” In an April 11 update, the family said he “moved his legs and toes for the first time,” answered simple questions with head nods and “even found ways to tell his nurse he was frustrated when episodes of Bluey were paused.”
There have been other small updates, with Ashkan opening his eyes widely and looking alert, but his family said the experience has been “heartbreaking” given how talkative the 5-year-old was prior to the Easter incident.
“As encouraging as it is to see the frustration in his eyes (and being unable to speak because of his breathing tubes) it is heartbreaking as parents and takes an emotional toll,” the family wrote on CaringBridge. “We all know Ash doesn’t leave much air in the room when it comes to talking, [asking] questions and singing/humming.”
But on April 17, Ashkan’s breathing tube was removed entirely, and he began making noises and even saying “yes” and “no” out loud, his family said. Still, it is “painful” to watch him struggle, they added.
As of Sunday, April 19, the GoFundMe created to raise money for Ashkan’s medical expenses and family has raised $43,900 of its $45,000 goal.
The most recent CaringBridge update shared on April 19 shows Ashkan out of his hospital bed and in a chair, holding a stuffed toy with a tube attached to his nose.
“Today Ashkan stole my chair,” his family wrote alongside the picture. “God has been working and we will continue to watch him work today.”
