vendredi 26 janvier 2018
Mom Warns Parents After a Flesh-Eating Bacterial Infection Killed Her 8-Year-Old
After crashing his bike on Jan. 13, the handlebars cutting through his jeans and into his thigh, 8-year-old Liam Flanagan was taken to the Emergency Room by his family, where he received seven stitches. His mom, Sara Hebard, took him home after doctors told her he wouldn't need antibiotics and would make a full recovery, but the boy complained of pain in his leg over the next few days. When he continued to claim he was in pain despite taking Tylenol, his mom and stepdad, Scott Hinkle, took a look at his stitches to find a scary sight: his thigh and groin area were completely discolored, which Hinkle suspected was gangrene.
The boy was immediately rushed back to the hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery on his leg to remove the infection before being airlifted to a second hospital. It was there that Liam's doctors performed multiple additional surgeries, eventually discovering that Liam had contracted necrotizing fasciitis - a flesh-eating bacterial infection that destroys tissue under the skin.
"Each time they did a surgery, they kept telling us that they thought they got it," Hebard told People. "He was on three of the highest doses of antibiotics that you could get. They were pouring everything at them that they could, but they just kept cutting and hoping. Cutting and hoping."
During his time at the hospital, Liam experienced what Hebard described as "horrific torture," his infection spreading from the wound on his thigh all the way down to his ankle and up to his armpit. "The pain was so bad that he was screaming," she said.
Unfortunately, despite the surgeries and antibiotics, Liam wasn't getting better, and there wasn't anything more that his doctors could do for him, so he was placed under sedation and on life support on Jan. 21. Liam, who was completely healthy before crashing his bike, died later that day.
Following her son's death, Hebard is warning other parents of the signs Liam exhibited that were originally ignored. "Even though this is my worst nightmare, I want to believe his death had a reason, it had a purpose," she said. "Maybe it's to save others' lives, because no one deserves to go through what we went through. Hold your babies tight and listen to them. Just pay attention, and don't just pass things off as if things will be OK."
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Liam's family to help aid with their expenses.
Although necrotizing fasciitis in particular is very rare, the CDC reports that the infection - which is estimated to have affected approximately 600 to 1,200 people per year since 2010 - requires prompt treatment following its symptoms, which may seem typical at first. Following an injury, should your child (or anyone) exhibit symptoms such as rapid swelling of the area, ulcers, blisters, black spots on the skin, fever, chills, vomiting, or fatigue, take them to see a doctor immediately.
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