From the ocean to the operating room.
When Krystal DeVos watches her daughter Eliana play with her Ariel doll, it stirs deep emotion — not just because of the joy it brings, but because Eliana’s life was saved in an extraordinary way. Born at only 23 weeks and weighing just a pound, Eliana faced life-threatening complications, including a fast-moving infection that doctors feared would be fatal. The infection, which spread across her neck and led to sepsis, left her medical team searching for innovative treatments.
Doctors at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, proposed an unconventional solution: using fish skin to help Eliana’s wound heal. Traditional surgical methods or human skin grafts weren’t viable due to her fragile condition. Instead, her care team used a combination of medical honey and fish skin derived from wild North Atlantic cod. The fish skin, produced by the company Kerecis, is designed to act as a scaffold for new tissue to grow and contains natural elements that aid in healing.
Remarkably, within just three days of applying the fish skin, Eliana showed significant improvement. After ten days, her wound had closed with minimal scarring, and no surgery was required. Now, three years later, her scar is barely noticeable. According to her doctors, she may be the smallest premature infant ever treated with this method. Although the use of animal-derived tissue for wound care is not new, such applications in infants — especially premature ones — are rare.
Experts note that while xenografts from animals like pigs or cows have been used in wound healing, fish skin offers a promising alternative due to its structural similarity to human skin and healing properties. However, the risk of unknown allergies, particularly in newborns, means that such treatments must be approached cautiously. In Eliana’s case, there were no adverse reactions, and her recovery was considered a success.
Krystal DeVos hopes their story encourages others to be open to new medical treatments and to hold on to faith in the face of uncertainty. She credits both modern medicine and trust in something greater for her daughter’s recovery, urging others to stay hopeful and open-minded when confronting the unknown.
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