Just when the hospital decided that the family should let him go, the teen's family resorted to using fish oil as their last straw- now the teen is almost recovering.
Grant Virgin, 17, from Palm Desert, got into a hit-and-run accident near their house in September. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors said he had suffered from multiple injuries including a torn aorta, traumatic brain injury, and bone and spinal fractures.
When his parents, John and Bryce, followed him to the hospital, they were welcomed with bad news. The attending doctors told them that their son was a hopeless case.
"It's like, how dare you not fight for my son's life?" said JJ Virgin to CNN. "It really took us ... getting very aggressive and assertive to save our son's life, because they weren't going to do it.
"They told us not to. They told us to let him go."
The family wouldn't accept the advice of the doctors so they started exploring for other options. Unbelievably, Grant is now recovering and the family is not giving credits to the hospital but to "fish oil."
Fish oil can be obtained by taking supplements or eating fish such as mackerel, tuna, sturgeon, mullet, bluefish, and more. About 3.5 ounces of fish can offer 1 gram of fish oil. In earlier studies, it was found to be successful in decreasing the risk to heart attack and stroke but overconsumption of it can lead to stroke. Aside from that, it is also considered a "brain food" because it is used to treat depression, psychosis, ADHD, Alzheimer's disease, and other mental disorders.
Grant was given higher doses of the omega-3 fatty acids present in fish oil. Prior to that, he underwent multiple surgeries which didn't help. His brain is still damaged but showing signs of improvement, though he is still in a coma. The doctors have adapted a "wait and see" attitude now.
"We just wait. The brain's got its own time schedule, "JJ told CNN, relaying the doctor's advice to them.
Aside from fish oil, the family also tried rubbing progesterone cream on Grant during the first two weeks of his coma. However, the parents strongly believe that it is the fish oil that helped their son.
