Family struggles to help child recover

By: Jennifer Moxley

CHARLOTTE -- Cabarrus County parents are turning to an alternative therapy, hoping it brings back the little boy they nearly lost to an accidental drowning. He now has severe brain injuries after being found face-down in a pond, having been without oxygen for at least 45 minutes.
Aidan Wright’s parents want to continue the 2-year-old’s therapy at home, but they are struggling to pay for it. Part of the therapy is putting Aidan in a hyperbaric chamber. “What we’re doing is we’re taking oxygen -- concentrated, compressed, under pressure -- and we’re giving it to his brain,” said Rebecca McCall with Alternative Health Solutions.
The hope is that by giving him oxygen in the chamber, parts of Aidan’s brain will come back.
“He's fighting, he's still in there and we hope and pray that we can get him out of there,” said Russell Wright. He lost his job five days before the accident, so the family is on Medicaid. As the oxygen treatment is considered an alternative therapy, insurance doesn’t cover it.

The Wrights say the treatment is needed regardless.
“Lack of oxygen to your brain, treat it with oxygen instead of pumping more medical chemicals into your body,” stated mother Erin. McCall is donating her time and services, but the Wrights want to buy a chamber of their own so their son can get more treatment. No matter the stress or financial burden, they say they won’t give up.
“If you had something like this happen to [a loved one], wouldn't you do the same thing,” asked Russell. “I mean wouldn't you go to the ends of the Earth to make sure he was alright?”The hyperbaric chamber costs about $25,000 and so far the family estimates they’ve raised $9,000. A golf tournament to raise money is scheduled for June 14 at Rocky River Golf Club.

Wives angry at man who faked death

The two former wives of a man who faked his own death, sparking a $1 million insurance payout, want nothing to do with him as he caused "so much pain".
The man, who cannot be named because of strict suppression orders, yesterday in the Christchurch District Court admitted three charges of dishonestly using documents and two of false pretences.
The man disappeared in 2002 from Port Waikato, south of Auckland, and was presumed dead.
Instead, the father of three children from two marriages had staged his disappearance, assumed another identity and moved to Christchurch.
The man took out an insurance policy worth more than $1m in 2000 that was paid to his second wife after she went to the Auckland High Court to have him declared legally dead.
Sergeant Mark Berryman said the man's two wives were supporting each other because his actions had caused them and their children so much pain.
The women -- one of whom has a teenage daughter and the other who has two primary school-aged sons --"wanted to move on with their lives and wanted nothing more to do with him (their former husband)", Berryman said.
The women's identities, along with any details that could identify the man, how he committed his crimes and large sections of evidence heard by the court yesterday were suppressed at the request of defence counsel Barry Hart.
High Court documents obtained by The Press show the man was being investigated by Inland Revenue and Work and Income for fraud at the time of his disappearance.
The High Court documents, filed by the man's second wife to have him declared legally dead, also revealed he went bankrupt while he owned a business in the central North Island.
The tax agency's fraud investigations relate to allegations he had received tens of thousands of dollars on which he did not pay tax. The High Court documents also contain reference to the man receiving government benefits worth almost $50,000 while working full-time running a business.
In court yesterday, Berryman said the man's car was found abandoned at Port Waikato in 2002.
Police initially believed it was an attempt to fake suicide, but along with the family eventually concluded he had taken his own life.
In 2004, the High Court in Auckland made an order allowing his insurance policy to be paid out in full to his second wife, some of which was put in trust for his three children.
Meanwhile, the man obtained documents under a false name and started work in Christchurch.
Last year he applied for a new passport under his real name, which led to his identification and arrest in January.
His wife was ruled out of the investigation as an innocent party and was not prosecuted, Berryman said.
His second wife said at yesterday's hearing that she had been married to the man for nine years when their relationship broke up in 2002, for reasons which were suppressed. She had two children with the man and was aware he had been married and had another child.
The second wife said she was not aware he had a $1m insurance policy until well after he had taken the policy out.
He also had another policy for $125,000 relating to a mortgage.
After the separation and some initial difficulties, he began to see the children again.
But the custody arrangements started breaking down, the man arriving late to pick the children up, or not at all, his former wife said.
In the following months he disappeared.
The man's former business partner in Christchurch said he had no desire to see the man ever again.
At yesterday's court appearance, police did not oppose bail for the man, who was remanded for sentence to July 11.

Virus claims life of one more child

By Shan Juan (China Daily)Updated: 2008-05-03 09:12
FUYANG, Anhui: The potentially fatal intestinal virus known as EV-71 had infected 3,321 children in the city as of Friday, and the death toll had risen to 22, a spokesman for the provincial government said.

The latest death was reported on Friday, Wang Yan told a press conference on the epidemic.
He added that 978 are in hospital, of whom 48 are critically ill.
"Babies with such habits as sucking fingers are prone to the disease," Ran Xiangui, deputy director of Fuyang No 2 Hospital, said.
"Most of the infected children are from rural areas," he said. "The public health environment is generally not as good as in cities."
The hospital where Ran works is under great pressure treating the patients, he said. "Every day, about 20 are discharged after recovery, while 40 to 50 are admitted. We are short staffed."
Experts from other provinces and the Ministry of Health (MOH) have been sent to the designated hospitals to help with the treatment.

Official figures show that there are 580,000 children under 5 in Fuyang.
Xie Jiawang, a 14-month-old boy, was diagnosed with the viral infection and has been in Ran's hospital since April 24.
His mother, Yang Juan, said: "We've spent nearly 8,000 yuan ($1,144) because the boy has no health insurance. It's really a huge amount for us farmers."
Taxi driver Wang Bin told China Daily that he had driven five couples with their babies to the railway station on Friday.
"They were fleeing the city to protect their babies from the virus," he said.
"The government should have alerted the people earlier about the disease."