Toddler miraculously survives heart stopping in 1966, but later dies at 16 years old. The story of Layne Tanner

BLACKFOOT — A toddler survived after his heart stopped beating for 14 minutes in 1966, and now his sister is sharing more details about her brother’s life.

The story on Layne Tanner was featured in our weekly Looking Back column, which looks back on what life was like during different periods in east Idaho history.

RELATED: Looking back: Toddler’s heart stops beating for 14 minutes while being prepped for tonsillectomy

Heart stops beating

Layne Tanner, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Tanner, was at Bingham Memorial Hospital for a tonsillectomy in October 1966. It was while he was receiving the anesthetic and being prepared for the surgery that the anesthetist realized the boy’s heart had stopped beating.

“For 14 tense minutes, a team of doctors and surgical nurses kept blood circulating while first attempting to restart the heart by external massage,” the Idaho Falls Post Register wrote.

The decision was then made to open the chest cavity for “direct massage.” Within four minutes, an incision was made, and direct massaging of the heart began, and the small heart started beating again.

While the intense moment was going on in the operating room, Layne’s parents were in another room in the hospital with two other children — Kathy, six years old, and Steven, almost five years old — who were waiting to undergo tonsillectomies as well once Layne came out.

Layne miraculously survives

The doctors felt certain that the external massages performed on Layne helped the blood effectively circulate during the stoppage.

“His reactions are good and there is no evidence of brain damage,” the article states. “He was retained in the hospital for five days, and at this time, he is perfectly normal, with the exception that he is a little tired.”

The doctors said a reaction to the drugs or a lack of oxygen probably caused the cardiac arrest. They said his recovery was “most fortunate and dramatic.” Layne’s parents said they also felt “it was truly a miracle.”

Life after the traumatic incident

Vicki Isaacson, of Malad, is Layne’s sister. She is the youngest of eight children. Vicki wasn’t born until 1970, so she wasn’t alive when the tonsillectomy incident happened but she heard stories about it growing up.

“Layne never got his tonsils out and as far as I know, the rest of the family didn’t either,” she told EastIdahoNews.com.

She said she doesn’t believe Layne had any complications down the road from his heart stopping. But Layne’s life — along with the lives of three of his brothers, Mike, Bruce and Jeff — were all cut short from being diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

“Their muscles slowly deteriorate until they wouldn’t work anymore,” Vicki explained about the genetic condition. “They went from walking to wearing braces to being in a wheelchair. Most of their lives were spent in a wheelchair.”

Vicki said Layne died two days after Christmas in 1978 at age 16 from complications associated with muscular dystrophy. She was eight years old when Layne died, 10 when Mike died, 13 when Bruce died and 16 when Jeff passed away.

Remembering Layne

Although Vicki was young when Layne died, she remembers he was smart and enjoyed school.

“He also enjoyed watching football,” she recalled. “I don’t know if he had a favorite team but I know that was his favorite sport.”

Vicki also pointed out that at some point, Layne ended up breaking his hip and was in a cast down that went down his legs and up to his chest. Vicki remembers her mom saying that Layne figured out how to get around and do what he wanted even with the cast.

She said their parents gave Layne and her brothers the best life possible.

“They took the whole family to Disney land — except me, I was only 18 months so they left me with a great aunt — but they all got to ride the rides do all the fun stuff,” Vicki said. “They would take them on the rides at the fair also. Anything Layne wanted to do, they made it possible if they could.”