Miracle In The Making
Published: February 3, 2006
We travel to Pope County where we met Tanner Keeling, the first child in Arkansas to undergo an experimental procedure that likely saved his life.
It’s a reality no new parent wants to face: figuring out what to do when something goes wrong in the delivery room. That was the reality for David and April Keeling on May 11, 2000.
“Things were flying around at a rapid pace of do this, do that, and before I knew it I had a doctor from Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Kaiser was on the phone with me wanting to know if it would be all right if he was part of a study group,” David says.
Complications during labor caused their son Tanner to be deprived of oxygen. Doctors at Arkansas Children’s Hospital suggested putting him in a cooling cap, technology that had never been used in Arkansas at that time. Nevertheless, the Keelings decided to put Tanner in the experiment, hoping to prevent brain injury.
The cooling cap brings a baby’s body temperature down to 92 degrees for three days. Doctors say the cold temperature helps cells survive. In less than a week, Tanner showed signs of improvement.
“Really, the moment that I think was a big sigh of relief was when the nurses down at Arkansas Children’s, they gave him a pacifier and he sucked it. And the nurses they were just like that’s just a amazing; for a baby that came in the condition that he was and that he could actually suck a pacifier,” April says.
Five years later, Tanner is doing just fine.
“I like ride bicycles to Grandma’s house and then talk to her and eat ice cream and then come back,” Tanner says.
“He loves Pokemon cards, he loves basketball, we’re playing basketball right now at his age,” David says describing his son. “He loves baseball in the summer, he loves riding his bicycle, he loves to read books and someone his age is well on his way.”
Tanner made a full recovery and was even selected as the state representative for the Children’s Miracle Network last year. The family traveled to Washington D.C. where they met first lady Laura Bush and several other celebrities.
“Kids got to go to the ESPN zone for the whole night for free and we got to visit with Leann Rimes and Lavar Burton and had just a wonderful time there and we thought that was one trip in itself, but after that we all got on charter jet to go to Orlando, Fla.,” David says.
While the trip was fun, Tanner seems just as happy playing basketball with his brother Mason and just being a kid.
“When I think about it I just get overwhelmed but it’s just like they said it’s a miracle,” April says.
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