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Family Reports Fish Oil Saved their Brain-Injured Teen

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Jan 20, 2014 10:42 AM EST

A 17-year-old comatose teenager from California, who was in a tragic hit-and-run accident that left him severely injured with traumatic brain injuries, has significantly recovered after receiving many treatments, which included fish oil therapy. The family believes that it was the fish oil therapy that saved their young son's life.

The teenager, Grant Virgin, from Palm Desert, was walking when a woman crashed into him last September. Virgin was left on the street with fractures in his skull, femurs, heel and clavicle. He also had injuries to his aorta, liver and spleen. After being airlifted to a nearby trauma center, doctors told the parents, John and JJ Virgin that Grant would most likely not make it.

"They told us not to. They told us to let him go," JJ said according to CNN. "It's like, how dare you not fight for my son's life? ... It really took us ... getting very aggressive and assertive to save our son's life, because they weren't going to do it."

Shortly after, the family moved Grant over to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles where they pushed for all kinds of treatments that could potentially help Grant heal. After hearing about fish oil therapy, JJ and John pushed for the treatment. The doctors started Grant on fish oils. Despite limited evidence on the effects of fish oils, Grant's doctors stated that fish oil has the potential to stop the inflammation in his brain. After the unconventional treatments, Grant came out of his coma and started speaking in short phrases.

"By supplementing using [omega-3 fatty acids] in substantial doses, you provide the foundation for the brain to repair itself," explained Dr. Michael Lewis, the founder of the Brain Health Education and Research Institute.

"When your kid is in a coma, and then coming out of a coma, you watch every nuance," said JJ Virgin. "If his eyelash fluttered, 'Oh, his eyelash fluttered!' You're holding on to anything that you can see and monitoring everything, every single day. And so it was very clear when the acceleration happened. Really clear."

Grant continued the treatment and started speaking full sentences. Now, Grant has returned home and his physical injuries are almost fully recovered. He still has difficulty with speech but the family believes that he will make a full recovery a few years down the line. The family believes that it was the fish oil therapy that truly started healing Grant's injuries.

"Grant is GREAT," JJ wrote on her Facebook page reported by the New York Daily News. "He's a reminder that we NEVER stop fighting. Our BEST life is worth the fight. Right?"

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