The streptococcus attacked. The man lost his legs and hands after playing frisbee
What happened after the innocent Frisbee session was something that no one could imagine. Even the mother of Dylan Riley, Trina White, who is a nurse by profession dealing with infectious diseases. The woman studied the wound that her son suffered. She estimated that she looked little threatening. However, two weeks later the horror began. Dylan had flu -like symptoms, sweated, had a fever and body pain, and he was constantly vomiting. After some time he couldn’t move anymore.
Dylan Riley shouted at the sky, calling the roommate to call an ambulance. Dylan remembers how the rescuers talked to him and then everything darkened. And although the man was no longer aware of his parents, a terrifying diagnosis was made: the streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.
Group A streptococci is the same bacterium that causes angina. Most cases are not so severe, but in very rare cases it can cause a secondary infection, such as meat eating disease. Symptoms to look at are swelling, redness, unpleasant smell and fever. The streptococcus can cause infections from mild to severe, even ending death.
« He came to our hospital seriously ill, practically on the verge of death, » says Dylana, dr hab. Bob Schoaps and explains that The streptococcus somehow got into Riley’s bloodstream. His organs stopped working, the heart stopped beating and he had to be resuscitated twice.
« If Dylan stayed at home a few more hours, he would probably not survive, » says Schoaps. « When we see patients as seriously ill as he, we estimate their chances of survival at a maximum of ten percent. » – the doctor confessed.
Riley’s mother had to make the most difficult decision in her life: Should her son be connected to a life support apparatus or not? She decided to make Dylan survive, but lost both legs and most of both hands.
His mother blamed himself that she made such a decision. « I was selfish. I wanted my son. I didn’t care what he would look like. I didn’t care what parts of the body we would lose, » she told « People ». The woman added that she was afraid of her son’s reaction when she saw she was a cripple:
I was afraid that he would be blamed for me. I was afraid that he would be nervous because he would now lead a completely different life from the one he knew so far
However, Dylan was not offended by his mother. On the contrary: he even joked about his situation, even though he experienced the most crazy side effects. « My whole body was picked up, every piece like a snake, » he says. Even the taste buds were disconnected from his tongue, he did not want to eat, because the food did not taste good anymore.
A year after the horror, Dylan is on the right track to regain control of his life. What’s more, it helps others who also have to undergo amputation. « At least I can help them understand that this is not the end – this is just the beginning of their new history. » He is grateful for his life. « Things could have been completely different. My family could plan my funeral. » – he admits.
The article was based on the translation of the text from Bild.de. Its author is Alexander Friedrich
This article was released on the first time on the page of Fakt on November 18, 2014
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