NBC NEWS – The parents of a 5-year-old who was killed in a hyperbaric chamber fire last month in Michigan are “absolutely devastated” over their son’s death and have experienced something that “no parent should ever, ever have to go through,” their attorney said Friday.
James Harrington, managing partner of Fieger Law in Southfield, Michigan, said Thomas Cooper’s parents had taken him to receive multiple sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder at the Oxford Center, an alternative medicine facility in the Detroit suburb of Troy.
The Oxford Center says it treats over 100 conditions, such as autism, Alzheimer’s, dyslexia and cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration does not recognize hyperbaric oxygen therapy for those conditions.
Thomas was killed on Jan. 31 in an incident that Troy police and fire officials have described as a fiery explosion in the chamber.
“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works by having patients breathe in 100% pure oxygen as the air pressure inside the hyperbaric chamber is increased to assist in delivering the oxygen to the patient’s lungs.”
Speaking for the first time about the case on Friday, Harrington said Thomas’ mom, Annie Cooper, rushed to try to save her son when the fire started.
“She has significant burns on her arm, and that was done during a rescue attempt to try to get her child out of the burning flames,” he told NBC News. “She was trying and trying to get him out, and was unsuccessful.”
“She does have visible burns,” he added. “But the real problem for her is going to be the emotional trauma.”
