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Permalink Reply by Blades Robinson on January 24, 2010 at 6:07pm

UPDATE...
Fundraiser helps family of 6-year-old boy who survived 67 minutes underwater
Sunday, January 24, 2010 3:36 AM
BY HOLLY ZACHARIAH
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

TARLTON, Ohio -- All he did, volunteer firefighter and diver Chad Howard insisted, is rescue a little boy who had fallen through the ice and disappeared into the cold and murky water.

It is Alaxandar Hanson-Cyrus, Howard said, who deserves all the credit.

"He's the one who is fighting, every minute of every day," Howard said. "It's Day 20, and he hasn't given up. That's all that really matters."

Howard was among hundreds of people who showed up at the Tarlton Town Hall yesterday for a Red Cross blood drive and fundraiser to benefit Alaxandar's family.

Known simply as "A.J." to family and friends, the 6-year-old tumbled into a pond on Jan. 2 after slipping away from a birthday party at an aunt's house in nearby Hocking County.

He remains in a coma at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. Firefighters say the boy was underwater for 67 minutes, an extraordinary period for him to have survived.

A.J. is known to torment his cousins and cut his own hair. Luckily, aunt Arianne Green said, she is always around with a pair of clippers for repairs.

He is not in the clear yet, but the family credits faith, prayer and A.J.'s stubborn streak and willpower for how far he has come. It's too soon to tell what the lasting effects of the trauma might be, Green said.

Nevertheless, Alison Hanson and Craig Cyrus are already focusing on when they can bring their son back to their Pataskala home. Until then, someone stays at A.J.'s bedside 24/7.

They talk to him, tease him and read books to him.

They read him every good wish and message that strangers and friends alike leave on a Facebook page. They read the prayers and poems from the hundreds of cards he receives. And they tell him funny stories about the havoc his cousins wreak.

A.J. has required a lot of blood in the last couple of weeks, so the blood drive yesterday was a way for the family to help replenish a bit of the central Ohio supply. And all the money raised from a silent auction, bake sale and raffle will help A.J., his parents and their other four children get by.

Spending a few hours there yesterday was the least Howard could do, he said. The family kept pointing him out to people, calling him a hero, telling others that he deserves their gratitude.

The 38-year-old Tarlton man was uncomfortable with the attention but grateful for the chance to deflect the praise onto A.J. and his family.

Plenty of others -- firefighters and relatives, all without proper dive equipment -- tried frantically to save A.J. before the divers arrived. By the time Howard suited up, his 20 years of experience with the Saltcreek Tarlton Volunteer Fire Department told him the outcome wouldn't be good.

But he was underwater only about three minutes, and down about 8 feet, when he felt something. He tucked A.J. under his right arm and sailed to the surface.

A medical helicopter was waiting.

"You just don't see it like that, that anyone could be alive after that," Howard said. "Everything worked in his favor that day. The kid must be a fighter."