Deep East Texas family asks for prayers, as their 2-year-old fights for her life

APPLE SPRINGS, Texas (KTRE) - Hope, prayers, and community support are the three things that are helping to hold the Aycock Family together as their daughter recovers from a tragic event.

On Wednesday, January 19, Amanda Aycock told us that it had only been 5 to 10 minutes since she had last seen her 2-year-old daughter Tessa in the house.

“I knew she had been testing the limits, and so, I went outside and couldn’t find her, and I employed all the help I had. We live on five acres total with my in-laws and my brother-in-law, so they were all helping search for her,” Aycock said.

Amanda was walking back towards the house when she heard her husband and father-in-law screaming. They’d found Tessa at the bottom of a pond on the property. Amanda said they waited for 20 to 25 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. During that time, she was performing CPR on her daughter.

“All throughout this time she had no signs of life. We estimate that she was submerged completely; she was on the bottom of the pond for about 30 minutes, and it’s truly a miracle that they found her because the pond is probably about a half-acre in size,” Amanda said.

Tessa spent time at CHI St Luke’s in Lufkin and then was transferred to Memorial Hermann in Houston. She was still there undergoing treatment as of Sunday.

“One of the first questions one of the doctors asked me is how long to make her a do not resuscitate in the event she goes into cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest again,” Amanda said. “And I’m a nurse, so I’m very familiar with that. But it just like, almost doubled me over. I mean we are talking about my 2-year-old daughter who a couple of hours ago was fine. She was walking and talking, and she was happy. And now you’re talking about letting her go?”

Amanda said Tessa is doing better, and they anticipate she will be discharged early this week.

“I was holding her hand, and I was talking to her. She squeezed my hand, and that’s when I was like, ‘Okay! We are in the business of miracles here,’” Amanda said. “And so, since then she has just blown people out of the water. She’s breathing on her own. She’s not on any IV medications, and she’s not on any oxygen. All her organs are functioning very well. We are dealing with some minor things like speaking and swallowing and controlling muscle movements in her arms and legs,” Aycock said.

After Tessa is discharged, The Aycock Family will head to New Orleans to provide Tessa with hyperbaric therapy to help heal her brain.

For more information on how to support the family and follow Tessa’s journey you may visit https://www.facebook.com/Tessas-Testimony-114033387855424/.

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