20 July 2023 , 10:32
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A two-year-old boy has been killed after contracting a rare brain-eating amoeba after a brave seven day fight - leaving his family devastated.
Woodrow Bundy tragically passed away on July 19 after he started to experience flu-like symptoms last week, as his loved ones believe he caught the disease while swimming in Ash Springs, Nevada.
In an emotional Facebook post, mum Briana Bundy, said she rushed him to hospital during the night, with medics first believing Woodrow had meningitis. However, it turned out to be an infection of brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri.
She wrote: "Woodrow Turner Bundy returned victoriously to our father in heaven at 2:56am. He fought 7 days. The longest any person has survived on record is 3.
"I knew I had the strongest son in the world. He is my hero and I will be forever grateful to God for giving me the goodest baby boy on earth, and I am grateful to know that I will have that boy in heaven someday."
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The toddler's family revealed the tragic news on Facebook (Facebook)Woodrow's aunt, Bailey Logue, said the toddler "came into this world and he lived happy, and be brought joy to everyone that came in contact with him."
She said: "Thank you everyone for your prayers…as we all know, in these times that the mourning process is almost unbearable sometimes…PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE continue to pray for my brother in law, Mel and my sister in law, Briana….please add their sweet hearted 5 girls to your prayers as well.
"They were their brothers little mommas…HE IS THE LIGHT OF THEIR LIVES. I look forward to hugging you and kissing those sweet cheeks again. Until we meet again sweet boy."
Family friends have paid tribute to the toddler on Facebook (Facebook)
Friends and family are rallying round the devastated family (Facebook)Naegleria fowleri is usually found in warmer fresh water such as lakes, rivers, and ponds and can enter the body via the nose. It can cause a condition called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which has a fatality rate of up to 97 percent.
Symptoms begin a week after exposure to the disease and include headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, confusion, seizures and hallucinations.
The disease is fatal as death usually happens within 12 days of the symptoms appearing.
“After symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about 5 days (but death can happen within 1 to 18 days),” the CDC said.
It has a fatality rate of up to 97 per cent (CEN)According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, only four people out of 157 between 1962 and 2022 infected by the disease in the US, has survived.
The CDC revealed twenty-nine cases were reported between 2013 and 2022, with the majority of cases being in boys under 14.
“It’s possible that young boys are more likely than others to participate in activities such as diving into the water and playing in the sediment at the bottom of lakes and rivers,” the department states.
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Julia Haston, a medical epidemiologist with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told Newsweek the disease is normally "fatal."
She said: "It travels to the brain along the olfactory nerve, which is a nerve connecting the nose and the brain that controls our sense of smell.
"Once the amoeba reaches the brain, it begins destroying brain tissue and causes a devastating infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, which is usually fatal."
Brain-eating amoeba infection, naegleriasis can be fatal (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Briana Bundy urged children to take safety precautions after the tragic death of her son and has urged people to wear nose plugs and avoid putting their heads underwater or disturbing the soil.
“If you are swimming there, please protect yourself and your children,” the mum wrote.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by family friend Todd Engel who said the parents are going to need assistance financially with Woodrow's funeral arrangements and medical bills.
He wrote: "Mel and Brianna and the girls are my second family. We have been through hell together and now, unfortunately they are having to go through it again. Little Woodrow was taken from us in a freak occurrence."
Over $9,400 has been raised out of a target of $20,000 so far.