Boy Who ‘Died’ Is Taken Off Respirator and Asks for Food

FARGO, N. D. — An 11-year-old boy who survived being submerged in an icy river for nearly 45 minutes was taken off a respirator Tuesday, and he delighted relatives and physicians by asking for a soda and french fries.

“He can talk and will continue to talk as the day progresses,” Dr. William Norberg said of Alvaro Garza Jr. “He did complain about being hungry. He wanted a Coke and he wanted french fries. And then he wanted to know when he could go home.”

However, the boy was not allowed any solid food yet or a soft drink, the doctor said.

Doctors made no promises to Garza about his release from the hospital, but Norberg said: “We told him we’re pretty sure we could get him home by Christmas.”

Garza, of Moorhead, Minn., was considered clinically dead with a body temperature of 80 degrees when he was taken to St. Luke’s Hospitals on Friday, Norberg said. The youth fell through thin ice on the Red River near his family’s apartment.

He was first placed on a heart-lung bypass machine to help warm his blood. He was removed from the machine Friday night and placed on two respirators, one of which was removed Saturday.

After doctors removed the second respirator Tuesday, his condition was upgraded from critical to serious.