Family: Miracle saves 2-year-old’s life

PHOENIX - A Phoenix family swears a miracle saved the life of their 2-year-old son.

Caleb Teodorescu was technically dead for almost half an hour. Doctors say he stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating after he fell into a pool and nearly drowned.

Twenty-eight minutes after Caleb’s mom found him at the bottom of the family pool and pulled him out, doctors and paramedics were able to get Caleb’s heart beating again. Soon after, Caleb was also able to breathe again.

Doctors told Caleb’s parents, Ovy and Mihaela Teodorescu that their son would likely never be the same. Victims of near drownings usually suffer life-altering brain damage due to the lack of oxygen and blood flow. Some victims end up in a comatose state and depend on machines and constant care for the rest of their lives.

What has medical professionals most baffled is that one week after the accident, Caleb seems to have made a complete recovery.

Caleb’s family credits their faith in God for their son’s health.

"I was crying out to God,” Caleb’s mother Mihaela said. “I was saying ‘God you cannot take him from me. I know he has to be a servant for you, and I do not believe that this is your plan, to take him away like this.’ I said, 'Lord, I want him back and I want him back whole, and I know you can do it.’"

ABC15 sat down for an interview with little Caleb and his family. The toddler is very talkative, smiles constantly, and has enough energy to run laps around the family living room. He seems like a typical 2-year-old boy.

Doctors say Caleb’s brain, heart and all other organs are fine. His father says doctors believe God heard their prayers.

"[Our doctor] told us in his 23 years of being with the hospital in the pediatric intensive care unit they did not have a case like this,” Ovy said. “Not even close. He said out of the good outcomes, Caleb is the best, of the best, of the best."

Caleb’s family was in the process of installing a pool fence when the accident happened.

Ovy and Mihaela said having their son Caleb alive and perfectly healthy is the best early Christmas gift they could ask for.