When 14-year-old Mathias Uribe began experiencing flu-like symptoms in min-June, his family thought nothing of it.
However, things took a turn for the worst on June 30th when his heart stopped and he went into cardiac arrest.
After that point, the Tennessee family was faced with an incredibly difficult decision to save their son’s life.
Uribe was flown to two different hospitals for life saving support, at which point he was diagnosed with pneumonia and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), an uncommon infection that can result in low blood pressure, multiple organ failure, and even death.
Uribe was placed on life support at the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville but after 12 days of treatment on July 12th his heart and lungs began showing signs of improvement and he was taken off the life support.
Doctors then informed the family that even though they had saved Uribe’s organs, his extremities did not receive enough blood flow and as a result would have to be amputated above the knee on one leg below the knee on another as well as both hands above the wrists in order to save his life.
Mathias Uribe is described by those close to him as “a happy, tender, loving boy, who touches the hearts of everyone around him”.
He always excelled academically at school according to his teachers who praised him for his work ethic and eagerness to learn.
In addition he was an athlete having run cross country for his school team as well as being a passionate fan of soccer, football, and basketball – all this while working hard towards achieving his goal of attending MIT so that he can make an impact in this world.
Dr. Katie Boyle from Vanderbilt University Medical Center who led Mathias’ medical care team said that what happened is very rare, noting “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.”
A letter published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal also referenced two other children aged nine years old and 10 years old respectively who were also diagnosed with STSS following infections caused by influenza or commonly known as ‘the flu’.
After making this difficult decision, Mathias’ family is now looking ahead saying “While it is undoubtedly a challenging road ahead, we firmly believe that this surgery will pave the way for a brighter future for our son.”
