A Baker City family is calling it a miracle. Five days after a near-death experience, their toddler is not only alive, but back home and perfectly healthy.
Matthew and Elsa Cunningham were certain their son had drowned in their neighbor's pond. They found him blue and not breathing. Today, 22-month-old Matty Cunningham is back home.
"He shows almost no residual effect," Matthew said.
Last Thursday, the Cunningham's were working outside of their Baker City home when they noticed that Matty was missing. After a frantic search, family members found him face down in their neighbor's pond.
"I dove in and grabbed him and handed him to Matt and started chest compressions," Elsa said.
The Cunninghams aren't certain just how long Matty was under the water, but were certain at the time that he had drowned. They were searching and praying for any sign of life.
"There was no movement in his limbs. It looked like he had been there all winter," Matthew said. "He was blue and lifeless, unresponsive," Elsa added.
When paramedics arrived, just minutes later, the Cunninghams got an answer to their prayer.
"They did detect a bit of a heart beat there at the pond," Matthew said.
Matty's heartbeat was faint and he still wasn't breathing. He was rushed to St. Alphonsus in Baker City and then airlifted to St. Alphonsus in Boise.
"His initial blood work was that of a dead baby," Matthew said.
The toddler was eventually taken to St. Luke's Children's Hospital where he was heavily sedated. Once there, doctors performed an MRI to see the extent of brain damage.
"So two things go through your mind, either it's terrible and they can't find the strength to tell us or they can't believe the results," Matthew said.
Matty's MRI came back perfectly normal.
"It's miracle in a sense that there's no scientific or natural explanation, there had to be a divine intervention," Matthew said.
An intervention, the Cunninghams says came from one particular person.
"We know it's more than somebody. It's the one true God, and we were just ahhh. Well we were praying," Matthew and Elsa said.
A prayer, the Cunninghams say was answered.
The family still isn't quite sure how Matty ended up in the pond, but believe he may have been following one of their dogs when he fell in.