By
Associated Press
EAU CLAIRE, Wis.- A 2-year-old boy found lying in a snowbank and not breathing had been outside in subzero weather for up to four hours, authorities said.
Les Hynek remained in critical condition yesterday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. No other details were immediately released.
Elsewhere, a 13-month-old girl whose body was partially frozen and whose heart had stopped during a night outside in the cold at Edmonton, Alberta, was playful and talking and had been moved out of intensive care, hospital officials said.
Les was wearing only a diaper, flannel pajamas and a sweat shirt when he wandered from his home on his parents' dairy farm sometime after 3 a.m. Tuesday. His father found him unconscious almost four hours later about 50 feet from the house, Eau Claire County Sheriff's Sgt. John Vogler said.
The National Weather Service said the temperature that night in Eau Claire fell to 4 below zero. Vogler said he had heard that the boy's body temperature was about 65 degrees soon after he was found, but there was no immediate confirmation.
Les had wanted to watch a video, and his father, Mark Hynek, told investigators he must have fallen asleep in a chair after he started the videotape. He awoke at 6:40 a.m., realized his son was missing and found him outside, Vogler said.
The boy first was taken to Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, where he was revived after being hooked up to a blood-warming machine, Sheriff's Capt. David Schultz said. He later was transferred to a hospital at the Mayo Clinic.
"Frankly, from what I learned at the scene, I certainly didn't hold out hope, but since then, the situation has certainly brightened," Vogler said.
"Obviously, we will look at it - and will need to talk with the parents again - but it appears this was just an accident where the father fell asleep and the little one got outside," said Sheriff Ron Cramer.
Hospital staff said the family had turned down requests for interviews.
In Edmonton, Leyla Nordby, Tuesday, described discovering her daughter, Erika, who had wandered outdoors wearing only a diaper while her mother and 2-year-old sister slept. The baby was found around 3 a.m. Saturday morning.
"I woke up and looked everywhere and she was gone," Leyla Nordby told CTV "Newsnet." "I ran through the house, screaming for her, and she wasn't there."
The girl's heart had stopped beating for about two hours and her body temperature had dropped to 60.8 degrees. Her toes were frozen together, and paramedics had trouble getting a breathing tube into the child's throat because her mouth was frozen shut.
Paramedics found the little girl still had a pulse. Officials at the Stollery Children's Health Center in Edmonton said Erika was moved Tuesday from the intensive pediatric unit to a regular hospital room.
Doctors were still assessing frostbite in Erika's toes and fingers, but said she was interacting with her mother, was playful and had uttered a few words including "mom."
