NEW BERLIN, Wis. (WTMJ) – An 11-year-old Wisconsin boy is relearning how to walk and talk after waking up from a coma following complications from what was supposed to be a routine tonsillectomy.
Liam Klaver’s family had planned a low-key spring break because the 11-year-old needed his tonsils out. His parents scheduled what they thought would be an easy outpatient surgery, planned so Liam could get back to playing lacrosse, his favorite sport, as soon as possible.
“He got his tonsils out on St. Paddy’s Day, March 17th,” said Liam’s grandmother, Tanya Coye. “Three days later, he was throwing up blood.”
Liam’s parents, Ashleigh and Dan Klaver, are currently with him at the hospital. They say, at first, they thought the 11-year-old was having some minor post-surgery issues. They had no idea how serious it was until he was rushed to the emergency room.
Doctors discovered a post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage in his right carotid artery, the main artery to the brain, according to the family’s GoFundMe page. He had been slowly bleeding out since his surgery.
“All of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, there is a complication here. This is pretty serious… He is bleeding from his carotid artery,‘” said Liam’s grandfather, David Coye.
Family members say Liam went into cardiac arrest for nearly 10 minutes during an emergency second surgery. Although doctors were able to save him, they had to put him into a medically induced coma for 10 days.
Liam is now awake and in recovery, but his family says he will have to relearn how to walk, talk and eat.
“Right now, he can do thumbs up, thumbs down and give you a squeeze,” Tanya Coye said. “He’s having to learn to eat again, to speak, to walk, to talk.”
While Liam is expected to recover, he has more surgeries ahead of him since doctors found a blood clot in his artery. His grandparents say they are telling him he will be playing lacrosse again in no time.
“That’s what he needs to be is an 11-year-old kid again,” David Coye said.
The GoFundMe set up to help Liam’s family with medical expenses had raised nearly $16,000, as of early Tuesday.
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