Good timing provided chopper that rescued boy

An eight-year-old boy’s against-all-odds survival is being credited in part to some very fortunate timing.

Samuel Gross was submerged in nearly freezing water for 20 minutes about two weeks ago before he was pulled out by a relative. He was then airlifted to a Winnipeg hospital by a helicopter ambulance not normally available in Manitoba.

The boy had become caught in a culvert on the Westrock Hutterite Colony near Portage la Prairie, Man., 100 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

The high-tech chopper that took him to hospital was only in the province because the government had been leasing it from Alberta to help fight flooding. Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia are the only other jurisdictions with at least one air ambulance.

The helicopter’s ability to move Samuel quickly has made an impression on the government, which had already been considering whether to acquire choppers for medical emergencies.

"This particular incident shows how the helicopter can fit within the actual emergency response system . . . it certainly illustrates that there was a benefit there," Bernadette Preun, assistant deputy minister for health emergency services, said Friday.

Doctors at the hospital kept his body chilled for two days to prevent brain inflammation before slowly warming Samuel back up. After a tense first night in hospital, with doctors fighting to clear stomach contents from his lungs, the boy's vital signs appeared strong. But nobody could determine if his brain had been deprived of oxygen long enough to cause brain damage. His family prayed and sang religious songs around his hospital bed.

On Wednesday, he woke up and was able to recite his name, birth date and father's cellphone number. His family called it a miracle.

Sam's arm still aches - he injured it while being sucked through the culvert - but his father says he's eager to leave the hospital. "Day by day, he will get better," said Mr. Gross. "A couple of weeks maybe and he will go home."

At the Westroc colony yesterday, residents had grown weary of the media attention Sam's story had brought. Barraged with media calls, many said they would no longer answer questions.

The survival of an 8-year-old Canadian boy who was submerged in icy water for 20 minutes and awoke from a 13-day coma "is remarkable," a doctor said.

Abruzzo Earthquake 'Miracle'

On the Monday of Holy Week the Abruzzo region of Central Italy was hit by its most devastating earthquake in 30 years, measuring a magnitude of 6.3 and claiming almost 300 lives. Amidst the wreckage, however, there emerged a sign of hope.

It happened in Rocca di Cambio, the highest mountain village in the Gran Sasso Mountains of Abruzzo. There, in the church of San Pietro alla Collegiata, a fresco of the Virgin Mother and infant Jesus was discovered.

The fresco appeared when the earthquake shook the church and the altar came away from wall. Experts believe the artwork is from the 11th Century at the time the church was built.

Antonio Pace, the mayor of Rocca di Cambio, told the London times, “When we went in to check the damage we saw that the altar had moved, and behind the fallen plaster was the fresco. There was tremendous excitement, as you can imagine.”

“This is wonderful news at a time of so much destruction and sorrow,” Pace went on to say. “The appearance of the Madonna and Child is a sign of hope. Nothing short of a miracle.”

A survivor's miracle in the rubble

TERAMO, Italy (CNN) -- The father of a 20-year-old student, one of the last to be pulled alive from the rubble says it could only have been a miracle that saved his daughter.

Luigi Calesini says when he arrived at his daughter Eleonora's university dorm most of the building had already collapsed on itself.

He says he thought it was a lost cause because his daughter lived on the ground floor.

"We waited and waited, and they were only pulling out dead bodies. Then we heard they pulled a woman out so we ran to see and it was Eleonora. We spoke to her and she recognized us but then they took her to the field hospital" said Calesini from the hospital where his daughter is now being treated.

"She was conscious, but then they took her away from me and now I'm afraid they won't give her back to me," he added.

Eleonora is said to be in a serious but stable condition and the hospital is being very guarded about her prognosis.

"The first thing she asked was what time it was and then she asked for some food" said Luciano Roncalli, a rescue team leader who helped pull Eleonora out from hundreds of tons of rubble and debris Wednesday.

"Our task is to save lives and that means everything to us" says Roncalli.

For days now though there has been precious little good news from rescue sites.

As many as a dozen people could still be missing and Italian authorities say they will continue to work at it until at least Sunday.

Even now, rescuers say they are finding what could be signs of life on some sites and continue to dig by hand to remove rubble.

In some ways this tragedy will be most remembered for the desperate vigil kept by parents after two university dorms collapsed.

Tensions were high on rescue sites for several days as parents lived the agony of seeing the collapsed buildings teeter and rescue teams hampered by strong aftershocks.

And many witnessing the destruction question why modern buildings should have collapsed at all.

"It doesn't help to fester about why this happened, I don't know if the building was built properly," says Calesini adding, "what I do know is that this is a miracle and I want it to stay that way."