14-year-old boy has hands, legs amputated after flu-like symptoms turn deadly
A 14-year-old boy’s parents had to make the heart-wrenching decision to amputate all of their son’s hands and feet after his normal flu-like symptoms suddenly turned deadly.
Mathias Uribe, of Tennessee, has been hospitalized at the Monroe Carrel Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt for more than two months after he was rushed to the hospital feeling deathly ill on June 30.
He was diagnosed with pneumonia and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and went into cardiac arrest, WSMV reported.
Mathias was put on an ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] machine, which kept the blood pumping throughout his body for two weeks, allowing his heart and lungs to rest. It saved his life, but enough blood wasn’t flowing to his extremities, forcing doctors to remove them, the teen’s father said.
His hands were removed at the wrist and his legs were removed from below the knee.
Mathias’ family hopes that their son, who ran cross country, played soccer and played piano, can soon leave the hospital with new prosthetic limbs.
“I told him we are going to be your arms and legs until we figure all of this out,” his father, Edgar Uribe, told the outlet.
Dr. Katie Boyle, an ICU pediatrician and the head of Mathias’ care team, said that there was nothing that Mathias’ parents could do to save their son’s hands and feet from amputation.
“It’s extremely rare,” she said, of Mathias’ rapidly deteriorating condition. “Sometimes when you get the flu it does set you up for a bacterial infection. But even then, most kids don’t get nearly as sick as Mathias did.”
Parents should get their children flu shots and check on them often while they are sick for symptoms like a high fever, trouble swallowing fluids, or inability to wake up from a deep sleep — which should trigger a trip to the hospital, Boyle said.
Mathias has undergone more than a dozen surgeries to date. He’s expected to remain in the hospital for another month, his parents said.
They said they are now looking at a place in Atlanta where he will receive prosthetics and begin rehabilitation.
“You are going to have an amazing life,” Catalina Uribe said she told her son. “You are going to go to MIGT. You are going to do whatever you want to do. You don’t have limits because you are here Mathias, you are here.”
The Uribes launched a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $235,000 to help cover the teen’s medical costs
