LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Florida — The 4-year-old boy injured in the explosion of hyperbaric chamber that killed his grandmother died Thursday. Francesco Martinisi's family had brought him to the United States from Italy for medical treatment that could not be easily obtained at home. On May 1, the hyperbaric chamber in which he was receiving therapy at a clinic in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea exploded. The boy's grandmother, Vincenza Pesce, 62, died of her injuries a day after the blast at the Ocean Hyperbaric Oxygen Neurologic Center. Francesco, seriously burned, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. "This is the tragic end of a very sad story that should never have happened,'' said Russell S. Adler, a Fort Lauderdale attorney representing Francesco's family. The boy's relatives had no comment, Adler said. Pesce had been keeping her grandson company inside the pressurized oxygen chamber, where he was getting therapy for cerebral palsy. His father had flown home to Italy to see his newborn son, Francesco's brother. Last year, the boy's family rallied neighborhood support and raised money to pay for the journey from San Felice a Cancello, Italy, northeast of Naples, to South Florida. He arrived in November and began therapy sessions at the clinic. Such treatment is restricted or prohibited in Italy because of the risk of fire. The blast at the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea clinic dislodged a tube attached to a hyperbaric chamber, resulting in an explosion and flash fire, authorities said. The investigation is continuing. Francesco, who suffered burns to more than 90 percent of his body, was taken to Jackson's burn unit. Given the extent of his injuries, an unfavorable outcome was "in the air,'' Pasquale De Lucia, mayor of the village where the Martinisi family lives, told the news media in Italy. | | A hyperbaric chamber explosion in Florida killed a 4-year-old boy and his grandmother. Such chambers are often used to treat potentially fatal scuba diving injuries. The Broward Sheriff's Office said the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office would conduct an autopsy to aid the agency in its investigation. No funeral date for the boy has been set, De Lucia said. "We prayed that we would be able to recover the small boy,'' De Lucia said. "There was nothing that could be done.'' by Juan Ortega |
