SPANISH FORK — When Eti Seluli was pulled from the Spanish Fork Reservoir last week after nearly drowning, the worst appeared to be behind him.
Seluli was unconscious but still breathing on his own and seemed to be on his way to a full recovery just hours later.
Doctors at Mountain View Hospital in Payson kept Seluli overnight for observation to make sure he didn't develop pneumonia after spending 5 minutes struggling in 55-degree water.
He didn't develop pneumonia. But doctors noticed a few hours later that Seluli's kidneys were beginning to fail.
Confused by the new problem, doctors did all they could to help Seluli, but his kidneys gave out a couple days later, and he began dialysis on Sunday.
"The doctors say (the kidney failure) was from a lack of oxygen when he nearly drowned," said Seluli's girlfriend, Amanda Larson. "His body worked so hard to keep his brain going that the kidneys didn't get any oxygen. They did a CAT scan of his brain, and it's fine."
The unexpected turn for the worse has placed a financial burden on Seluli and Larson, who do not have medical insurance and are rearing four children, ages 7, 5, 2 and 10 months. Even though the two oldest children are Larson's from a previous relationship, she said all the children are close with Seluli, and he means a lot to them.
Seluli, who immigrated to the United States from Western Samoa three years ago, has no family in the country. Larson has been trying to get in touch with his family, but they do not have a phone, and she has only been able to find a cousin who lives on another island.
"It's hard to get a hold of his parents," Larson said. "There's a lot of back and forth. He hasn't talked to them for a long time — they don't even know he has kids."
After his third dialysis session Tuesday, Seluli was sedated. Larson said doctors are going to wait two days before doing dialysis again to observe Seluli's condition and see if his kidneys will start to work again on their own. Larson added that he is slowly improving, but the prognosis is still unsure, and a transplant may be necessary.
Although the family doesn't know how they'll pay the mounting hospital bills without the income from Seluli's jobs doing stucco and being a DJ on the weekends, a number of neighbors in the apartment complex where Seluli and Larson live have organized a yard and bake sale to help the family out, even if it is just a little.
"(Seluli) is a real good family man," said Stormie Petrakovitz, the neighbor who organized the sale. "We just want to help them out. We can't pay the medical bill, but we're hoping to pay their other bills for at least the month of July."
Petrakovitz said she has been amazed at the generosity of other neighbors.
"It's important to show that even if you think there's nothing you can do, there's always a way to help someone out," she said. "It doesn't even have to be financial. Everyone has something they can give."
The yard and bake sale will be held this Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the Diamond Fork Apartments, 400 N. 1200 East, Spanish Fork.
E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com