A Texas woman is recounting her daughter’s extraordinary medical journey, during which physicians used fish skin to facilitate the healing of her terrible wound as a premature infant.
In April 2022, Krystal DeVos delivered her daughter Eliana at just 23 weeks of gestation. She weighed only one pound and remained in the NICU for 131 days. During that period, the newborn had a severe laceration on her neck due to a life-threatening bacterial infection.
“It appears alarming, but it resembled a flesh-eating disease, wherein her body was attacking something in her neck,” DeVos said CNN.
The infection gradually deteriorated, leading Eliana to develop sepsis, which resulted in the failure of many organs.
Sepsis is defined by the Mayo Clinic as “a serious condition in which the body responds inadequately to an infection.” Symptoms include rapid or superficial respiration, unexplained perspiration, tremors, and alterations in cognitive function. It may result in septic shock and mortality.
At that juncture, physicians informed DeVos about an unorthodox therapy option for her infant. Following 86 days in the NICU, Eliana was sent to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she received several drugs. A specialized therapy used fish skin for wound management.
Dr. Vanessa Dimas, a pediatric plastic surgeon at Driscoll, informed the outlet that it was necessary to excise the accumulation of necrotic tissue from Eliana’s lesion and to dress it to facilitate the regeneration of healthy tissue. Nonetheless, the conventional method of surgery or skin grafting was excessively perilous.
Dimas added, “She was a premature infant, the injury was extensive, and her condition was quite severe, thus I did not deem it safe to perform a surgical procedure on her.”
The surgeon opted to use a medical-grade honey solution for wound debridement and to put fish skin as a covering for the region. The fish skin, sourced from wild North Atlantic cod, included omega oils and other natural compounds that purportedly accelerate the healing process.
Dimas said, “It is microscopically similar to human skin, facilitating the healing process of the wound. Once it fulfills its purpose of aiding in healing, it gradually dissolves.”
The fish skin treatment effectively facilitated Eliana’s healing, demonstrating “dramatic results” after only three days. The lesion healed within 10 days after the first application of fish skin, with little scarring, according to CNN.
Today, DeVos said that Eliana, at three years old, is a joyful and lively toddler, and her scar is hardly perceptible. She said that she gets upset seeing her kid develop and engage with her Ariel doll.
“I refer to her as my little mermaid,” she said the magazine.
“Eliana is completely unaware,” DeVos said on her daughter’s fish skin treatment. “Certainly, as she matures, we intend to revisit and present her photographs while elucidating the events that transpired, as they constitute an integral part of her narrative and are remarkably distinctive.”
Devos said that she is now disseminating her daughter’s narrative to advocate for the use of fish skin as a therapeutic intervention.
“I hope individuals recognize the value of modern medicine and the strength of faith,” she said.
“Do not hesitate to attempt something novel.” “Maintain an open mind and possess unwavering faith,” DeVos added. “If something appears unfamiliar or you have not encountered it previously, simply take a risk and exercise a modicum of faith.” In our situation, it proved to be really effective.
