A PRESCHOOLER has tragically died after the oxygen chamber he was being treated in exploded.
Police and fire services were called to the medical centre in Troy, Michigan just before 8am on Friday to reports of the blast.
Thomas Cooper, who was just five years old, was quickly extracted from the hyperbaric chamber but pronounced dead shortly after.
His horrified mom, Annie Cooper, was stood by the device at the time of the blast and sustained injuries to her arms.
It is not clear what condition the boy was being treated for.
Annie has since paid tribute to her little boy “who loved life”.
A hyperbaric chamber is a pressurized medical device used to provide oxygen therapy to patients.
But according to a spokesperson for the Troy Fire department these devices can be extremely flammable because they contain 100 per cent oxygen.
That’s five times the amount of oxygen in a normal room.
The cause of the explosion is being investigated by the police. Officials said they had never responded to “anything like this” before.
A GoFund Me page has since been set up by the young boy’s family to help with costs around his passing.
On it, his mom paid an emotional tribute to her son, who she said was “the smartest and cutest kid”.
She added: “His favorite thing to do was ‘super sonic mode’—running as fast as humanly possible.
He loved nature school, rolling down hills, stomping on ice, and playing in the mud. He loved his mama and daddy so much.”
Minecraft was the little boy’s “life” and he loved all the characters, as well as playing on his Nintendo DS.
Annie said her son had been given a Yoshi video game by his dad the night before he tragically died.
What’s a hyperbaric chamber?
This form of therapy is to used to get more oxygen to tissues damaged by disease, injury or other factors.
The process of hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves delivering pure oxygen to the body in an enclosed chamber at a pressure higher than normal air pressure, as explained by Mayo Clinic.
What can it treat?
- It can treat a condition called decompression sickness that’s caused by rapid drops in water pressure in scuba diving or air pressure in air or space travel
- Serious tissue disease or wounds
- Trapped air bubbles in blood vessels
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Tissue damage from radiation therapy.
“He was excited to come home after the hyperbaric treatment to play,” she said.
She added: “He loved to sing ‘I love mama, I love mama, I love mama so very much.’
“He also loved to say ‘my momma is the best in the whole world.’
“”He wanted to grow up to be a chef. His mom asked him why and he said, ‘so I can be with mommy forever.'”
The Oxford Centre, where the boy was being treated, has temporarily closed whilst the enquiry continues.
In a heart breaking message, his mom talked about how they had just celebrated Chinese New Year.
She said Thomas had received pocket money, which he placed underneath his pillow, declaring it would bring him the “best luck ever”.
A representative from the Troy fire department reassured the public that the incident should not raise any alarms for other patients receiving treatment at the facility, as detailed in a report by Detroit News.
He said social workers and grief counselors were being made available to officers and firefighters who experienced the traumatic event.
