Toddler Struck by VW Passat Is In Medically Induced Coma, Relative Says

The 2-year-old boy struck by a car Aug. 25 on Fletcher Parkway is in a medically induced coma, according to a relative.

“He is still in hospital medically induced coma,” wrote the relative Monday morning. “There is improvement, though, thank God.”

The boy, whose name has not been released, was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital with severe head and spinal injuries that were first described by police as “non-life-threatening.”

The possible hit-and-run incident at the Trolley Court intersection was recorded by surveillance video around 7:45 p.m., but police wouldn’t say if anyone has stepped forward to identify the driver of a white VW Passat station wagon involved in the eastbound crash.
 
“The investigation is still in progress,” police Capt. Carlos Medero said Monday.  “No additional information to release as of this time.”

According to a Scientific American, a medically induced coma—like the one used for shooting victim Rep. Gabrielle Giffords—involves giving patients drugs to still the brain and promote healing.

“Shutting down function can give the brain time to heal without the body performing radical triage by shutting off blood flow to damaged sections,” said the magazine’s website.

The report also explained: “The main thing about a drug-induced coma, as opposed to a coma, is that it’s reversible. If you do this to someone with a normal brain, they would come right out of it once you removed the drugs.”

Drug-induced comas are considered safe, often using the sedative Propofol, and an expert said: “We use this every day in the operating room. It is probably the most used drug in all of anesthesia.”

Earlier, the boy’s family objected to the posting of the crash video on La Mesa Patch.

“I am pleading with you to please remove the video of him being hit by the car,” said a relative via email Sept. 6. “We have been and continue to be traumatized by this whole ordeal, and to have this horrific video on Internet is very detrimental to our family.”

The relative has declined to name the Buckland Street family or the child, and prefers not to be identified.

La Mesa Patch removed the video at the family’s request.

In response to Patch queries about whether the family gave permission to release the video, La Mesa police Capt. Dan Willis said: “My understanding is that the investigating officer notified a member of the family that the video was going to be released. 

"In any event, it is public information and the media has access to it if they request.  We used it to assist in trying to find the person who hurt their child.”