What started as flu symptoms leads to Tennessee teen having hands, legs amputated

The parents of a 14-year-old boy in Tennessee recently had to make the difficult decision to amputate their son's hands and legs after he contracted a rare and deadly bacterial infection.

Mathias Uribe, a cross-country runner and piano player, was twice taken to a local doctor by his parents in mid-June for "flu-like symptoms," according to a GoFundMe created by the Uribe family.

Near the end of the month, his symptoms worsened, and he was taken to an emergency room where his heart stopped and the boy went into cardiac arrest, the family said. Life-saving measures were taken and the teen was diagnosed with pneumonia and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, a rare and rapidly developing bacterial infection, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Between about 1 and 3 people in every 100,000 contracts toxic shock syndrome in the United States, according to the National Library of Medicine. The infection that has kept Mathias in the hospital for months is even rarer than that.

In late June, Mathias was admitted into the pediatric ICU at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

"...we were told he was the sickest child admitted at the time," the family said.

After roughly two weeks of life support treatment for all his vital organs, doctors removed the treatment from his heart and lungs. He began showing improvements. Some days later, his respirator was taken out.

On July 20, doctors told the family that the boy's organs were saved; however, his extremities were not. His hands and legs "did not receive enough blood flow" and had to be amputated.

Dr. Katie Boyle, who led the boy's care team, told KHOU-TV that the speed at which Mathias' health declined was was a major challenge for his doctors.

"I don't think there's anything they could have done sooner. I think he got really sick, really fast," Boyle told the news outlet. "It's extremely rare. So, 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."

The hospital did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's requests for comment.

For nearly half of people who get the rare bacterial disease, experts don't know how the bacteria got into the body, according to the CDC. The bacteria can sometimes enter the body through openings in the skin, such as an injury or surgical wound, or through mucus membranes, including the skin inside the nose and throat, the CDC says. Out of 10 people with the infection, as many as three people will die from it.

Mathias, an avid soccer and basketball fan with dreams of attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been resilient through what will be the start of a long medical journey, his family said.

"Our brilliant, 14-year-old son is a fighter," they wrote on GoFundMe. "Our son has always been a happy, tender, loving boy, who touches the heart of everyone around him."

The fundraiser, titled "#MiracleforMathias," has raised closed to $245,000 as of Thursday morning. Donations will go toward the bills for Mathias' treatment, including life-long prosthetics and a variety of therapies.

"He has faced adversity with unwavering courage, and we have no doubt that he will continue to do so throughout this journey," the Uribe family said. "We are in awe of his unwavering spirit and determination, which will undoubtedly guide him through the challenges that lie ahead.