Miracle on Christmas DayDeborh MorrisOn Christmas Eve the little girl, Brittany, was found lying in the snow, clad only in her underwear and nightshirt. Her tiny body was frozen stiff. Could the little girl be brought back to life? You will find a pleasantly surprising answer after reading the story. Cold rain mixed with snow fell against the kitchen window of the house trailer in the US town of Elkins, West Virginia. Melinda Eichelberger, seven months pregnant, pulled a tray of Christmas cookies from the oven. The cold weather outside made the trailer a cozy place on this night of December 23, 1990. Who wants a cookie? Melinda called to Steve, 21, and their three-year-old daughter, Brittany, in the next room. Brittany quickly came around the corner. I want one! she said with a grin. Melinda, 20, was taking time off from her restaurant job to do Christmas baking. For once, she wouldnt have to rise at dawn to work the early shift. Steve, laid off from his discount-store job the week before, would also be home. Around midnight, Melinda wearily turned off the oven. Steve was already in bed; Brittany was on the floor, sound asleep. Their small Christmas tree twinkled brightly nearby. Melinda smiled down at her daughter. She looks so comfortable, she thought. Ill let her sleep here. Covering Brittany with a blanket, she kissed her cheek and went to bed. The clock read 9:33 a.m. when Melinda awoke with a start. Oh, I dont have to work today, she realized with relief. Then she noticed the house was unusually silent. Brittany? she called sleepily as she walked down the hallway. The moment she stepped into the living room an icy wind hit her. She looked around in confusion and saw the front door wide open. She pushed on the door. It was frozen in place. Good, Melinda thought with relief. She couldnt have gone outside. Brittany? she called again. Melinda thought her daughter might be playing a joke. Two nights before, Brittany and Steve had hidden in the hall closet and jumped out to surprise her. But the closet was empty and so was Brittanys bedroom. Melinda ran to wake Steve. I cant find Brittany! she cried. Together, they searched the trailer. Then Melindas eyes turned to the doorand the cold landscape outside. Oh dear God, she said. Throwing on jackets, the couple rushed out the door. The cold wind took their breath away. Brittany! they shouted, racing up and down the row of trailers. Why didnt I wake up earlier? Melinda thought. Why didnt I hear her open the door? Please, God, dont let anything have happened to my baby. Then she spotted something between two trailers. Steve! she cried out. Brittany, still clothed only in her underwear and nightshirt, was lying in the snow. Her eyes were frozen open, wide and staring, her mouth agape. With her face framed by soft blond curls, she looked like a porcelain doll. Steve took his daughter in his arms and raced for their trailer, shouting for help. Brittanys tiny body was stiff, unyielding. He laid her on the couch and started piling blankets on her as a neighbor rushed in. The man looked in horror at the frozen little girl, then checked for a pulse. Shaking his head, he placed both hands on her chest and began CPR. Steve, worried that Melinda would go into premature labor, sent her from the room with another neighbor. The phone rang in the local Emergency Squad room. Minutes later an emergency crew pulled up in front of the trailer. Brenda Dailey, a nurse, ran up the steps, her heart racing. When her fingers touched Brittanys neck to check for a pulse, she gaspedthe flesh was cold and hard. Shes frozen solid! she thought in disbelief. Dailey moved the child to the floor and continued CPR. A moment later Doctor Lora Eye and crew chief Delma Caudell rushed in with equipment. Caudell linked the child to a heart monitor. Shes got a flat line, she said grimly. As Steve turned away tearfully, Eye felt sad and depressed. The doctors placed chemical hot packs on Brittany and then inserted a tube down her throat to force oxygen into her lungs. After they wrapped her with blankets and loaded her onto the stretcher, Steve followed them to the ambulance. Assured that a neighbor would drive Melinda to the hospital, he climbed in, and sirens began to sound. Dr. John Veach was on duty in the hospital emergency room when Brittany arrived at 10:45 a.m. Her temperature was 23 degrees Celsius. She had been in a deathlike state for at least 40 minutes. The well-known rule in cases of severe cold, however, is that the victims arent dead until theyre warm and dead. Get some heat lamps, Veach told the nurses. After taking a series of emergency measures, Veach asked Eye and Dailey to continue CPR. Until Brittanys blood circulated freely, the cardiac drugs they had administered would have little effect. Rushing into the room where Steve waited, Melinda held Brittanys favorite doll. I thought she might want this, she said helplessly. Steve nodded, gently squeezing her hand. Huddled on the couch, Melinda felt a fresh wave of pain as she thought of the gaily wrapped presentsa toy kitchen set, a cartoon video, some new crayonshidden away for Christmas morning. Would Brittany ever get to open them? Would she be there when her baby brother or sister was born? For more than two hours, in the heat of the eight lamps aimed at Brittany, nurses and doctors performed CPR. As the childs temperature approached 27 degrees with still no sign of life, the atmosphere in the emergency room grew increasingly tense. The unspoken thought hung in the air: Its time to give up. No one wanted to stop, however. Maybe it was because of the sad young parents outside, or simply because it was Christmas Eve. They continued to fightforcing the childs stilled heart to beat, her empty lungs to fill. At about 1 p.m. Lora Eye noticed blood and liquid from Brittanys nose and mouth. Look! she shouted excitedly. Soon the heart monitor showed a subtle changean uneven curve instead of a flat line. Over the next hour the screen showed increasing heart activity. At 2:15 p.m., Dr. Veach touched Brittanys neck. Ive got a pulse! he exclaimed. Against all odds, the little girls heart was beating on its own. Lora Eye smiled at Brenda Dailey and the other nurses. But even in that successful moment she felt a pang of doubt. The child had gone without oxygen for a long timehad they brought her back to a hopeless, vegetative existence? She quickly got rid of the thought. We did what we were trained to do, she decided. The rest is in Gods hands. Melinda and Steve looked up fearfully when Veach walked in. Weve got your daughters heart going again, he said. Were transferring her to Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh. The couple followed the doctor down the hall to see their daughter. Melinda gasped. Brittany was wrapped in warm blankets; only her blue lips and nose were visible. Stepping forward, Melinda laid Brittanys doll next to her. Mommys here, she whispered. Youre going to be okay. Minutes later the child was quickly sent to an ambulance. Shed be driven to a nearby airport, then flown to Pittsburgh. At Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Dr. Shekhar Venkataraman received word that a child with severe cold injuries was being airlifted in. The doctor shook his head; such unfortunate things were always wrenching. There was one positive factor, however: severe cold injuries sometimes have surprising outcomes. When Brittany arrived at 4:30 p.m., Venkataraman tried to assess the childs condition. She didnt respond even to painful stimuli, and her pupils didnt react to light. Melinda and Steve, who had been driven to Pittsburgh by relatives, rushed into the hospital two hours later. Your daughters heart rate and blood pressure are becoming stabilized, Venkataraman told them, but shes still very coldonly 29 degrees. We wont be able to run an EEG to evaluate her brain activity until shes a lot warmer. As dusk fell on Christmas Eve, the couple began a silent watch at their daughters bedside. Melindas eyes were full of tears as she looked at Brittanys face, so beautiful and so still. Please, God, she prayed, let her be okay. Then, early Christmas morning, the little girls eyes suddenly fluttered open. Brittany? Melinda said breathlessly. Can you hear me? The eyes closed again, but Melinda was certain she had understood. Shes going to be okay, she told Steve excitedly. I just know it! Brittany seemed to grow more alert as the day passed slowly. Several times it looked as though she was trying to focus on Melindas face. Shes coming around pretty quickly, Venkataraman told Melinda and Steve, but until we take her off the respirator and see if she recognizes you, we wont be able to assess how much brain damage has occurred. The next afternoon, Venkataraman and several nurses gathered around Brittanys bed in the Intensive Care Unit.