A mother credits the brightly colored soles of her son’s shoes with giving the 5-year-old a chance to survive after being stuck for up to 13 minutes under his family’s boat. The boat was hit by a barge this weekend on the Mississippi near Red Wing.
Vincent Koenig was in critical condition Monday afternoon at the Mayo Clinic Hospital, St. Marys Campus in Rochester, a hospital spokeswoman said, following the crash around 5:45 p.m. Friday near the dock in gas Ole Miss Marina who also sent her father and three siblings into the river.
The boy’s mother, Rachel Koenig, explained on a CaringBridge webpage late Monday afternoon that “Vincent’s brain scans are normal! … This is the best news we could have asked for, and his [medical] the team was so excited to tell us!”
Rachel Koenig’s positive prediction came a day after other positive indicators. She said that “Vincent was trying to move all his extremities, squirm in bed and grab his endotracheal tube. He very clearly wanted it out and was coughing to help clear the secretions from his lungs. … He deliberately gave kicked his right leg while neurologist doctors were in the room.”
In its most recent and detailed account to date of the crash, the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office said Jeremy Koenig, 45, and three of his children were pulled from the water by other boaters nearby. However, Vincent is still missing.
It wasn’t until the disabled boat was towed by another vessel to nearby Red Wing Marina that the boy “was found under the boat. [and] lifted to the dock, where the CPR began,” read a statement from the sheriff’s office.
Vincent had apparently been underwater for about 12 to 13 minutes, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Kris Weiss said Monday.
Dr Ashley Bjorklund, a pediatric critical care doctor at HCMC, said ‘time alone doesn’t give her a prognosis’ for survival or avoiding serious injury.
“We always give the kids a fighting chance when we can,” said Bjorklund, who pointed out that preventive measures such as wearing a life jacket – as all four children were – and Child supervision is essential to prevent potentially fatal incidents on the water. “Younger brains do a lot better and can overcome things that an older brain can’t.”
Vincent’s siblings were identified by the sheriff’s office as 11-year-old Jack; Felix, 8 years old and Hazel, 3 years old.
“Jeremy and I and our family are living a parent’s worst nightmare,” read Rachel Koenig’s initial post on CaringBridge.
She said her husband and children were out fishing when the boat stalled and was hit by an oncoming barge.
The boat capsized and “Vincent was stuck under it,” the mother continued.
“Thank goodness he was wearing orange stocking shoes,” Rachel Koenig noted. “Jeremy spotted his shoes and was able to find him.”
Vincent was transported to the dock, where cardiopulmonary resuscitation began, the sheriff’s office said.
“I was told that all the bystanders were extremely wonderful, and they started CPR until EMS arrived,” wrote Rachel Koenig. From there he was airlifted to Mayo in Rochester.
“Congratulations to the Red Wing boating community for their response,” Weiss said of the sheriff’s office.
Rachel Koenig said her brother Felix visited Vincent on Saturday and Jack followed on Sunday.
“They brought Vincent his favorite coloring books and his teddy bear from home,” she wrote on CaringBridge. “They are both very brave to see their brother in this condition.”
