Why We Do What We Do?
Hi, my name is Chris and I am the Managing Director of Portable Hyperbaric Chambers Australia. I would like to share with you my story behind the company I started, and the reason why I am so passionate in making portable hyperbaric chambers accessible and affordable for the average Australian to own.
It all began back in 2009 when I almost lost my two month old son, Elijah, to an episode of (SIDS) Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. As a result he suffered a severe brain injury which was going to change not just his life but mine as well – forever. In need of emergency care, he was rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne where he was immediately placed into an induced coma, in which he would remain for three months. After what seemed like an eternity the doctors decided it was time to wake Elijah from his deep sleep.
It was a challenging time for both my wife, Joy and I but nothing compared to what little Elijah was to face. Once woken, the doctors were to discover he was clinically blind and had severe spasticity, not to mention advanced developmental delays. In fact, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy amongst other things. This diagnosis came from some of Australia’s leading pediatric neurologists, who had all come to the same conclusion. Ultimately, they were telling us Elijah’s future would be bleak – news that no parent ever wishes to hear.
Refusing to accept the doctors’ prognosis of our son, both my wife and I set out to find a solution that would enable us to help our sons damaged brain repair. After years of feverishly searching the internet for an answer we came across something called hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We were amazed to hear about the results people were having from simply using hyperbaric chambers. Not just stories of brain damaged patients but stories of:-
Autism, Chronic Fatigue, Lyme Disease, Severe Anemia, Osteomyelitis (Bone Infection), Diabetic Wounds, Necrotizing (Tissue Infection), Gangrene, Intracranial Abscess (Brain Abscess), Burn Injuries, Stroke, Heart Problems, Migraines, Sports Injury & Recovery. Just to mention a few but the list goes on.
Excited by what we had learned I immediately began to investigate how I could get my hands on the best and most advanced hyperbaric chamber available. Much to my dismay, no hyperbaric facility in Australia would treat our son. And where we could take him to have treatment, we were being quoted $25,000 for just three months of treatment. After endless hours of research on the internet and meeting people I knew our son would need a whole lot more than three months of treatment.
As a parent you would give anything to help your child, but $25,000 every three months was impossible for our family to afford.
So began our journey to find a hyperbaric chamber that could actually give the results that researchers around the world were finding, AND just as importantly, one that was affordable that we could use on a daily basis. After a long and hard two years of research and development in our spare room we finally had a portable hyperbaric chamber we knew was going to do the job needed to get the results we wanted.
When it came time to put Elijah inside that confined space for the first time we did have some concern that he may not like it. But Joy jumped inside with him to help calm and soothe little Elijah. But there was no need, he loved it. Equipped with his iPad and other activities we had put in there to amuse him, no once did he refuse or show any signs of distress. We sent him down four meters below sea level that day and saturated his little body with 97% of life-giving oxygen, delivered in a very special way.
The results we saw were gradual and subtle. Initially he was sleeping better and his behavior improved. He seemed to be more peaceful and his muscles didn’t ache or hurt as before. Slowly and incredibly his vision started improving and his walking gait also improved, then he started talking. All the things the doctors said he would never do again, he started to do one by one.
Three years later, and our brain injured, clinically blind son diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and global developmental delays, is now at a normal school doing amazing and he is walking, talking and has his SIGHT BACK!
Yes, that’s right, he is seeing! If you ever get to meet him, you would think that he is a normal little boy. After seeing the amazing results with our son, there was only one thing left for me to do…quit my job…which I did. And so it was that Portable Hyperbaric Chambers Australia was born.
In the same year I took the very chamber that I had designed for little Elijah, named it the Salus36 and began full scale production, manufacturing 30,000 units a year. It is now the biggest selling Portable Hyperbaric Chamber in today’s market, and is sold worldwide.
Throughout this whole amazing journey, I have always felt there would come a time when I would help others help themselves and their loved ones.
Sincerely
Chris Williams.
Owner & Managing Director
