Organs harvested from boy who died from amoeba

The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Brain-eating amoeba kills boy in Florida The family of Zachary Reyna says he has been taken off life support and his organs have been donated. He's been battling a rare brain-eating amoeba for weeks.

Family decided to donate Zachary Reyna%27s organs when tests determined his brain was too damaged

He started feeling bad the day after he went knee boarding in a ditch near his southwest Florida home

The infection is rare but almost always fatal%3A Fewer than 130 have contracted it in past 50 years

A 12-year-old who had been battling an infection from brain-eating amoeba for more than three weeks died after donating his organs so other children might live, his family posted Tuesday on a Facebook page.

Zachary Reyna of LaBelle, Fla., contracted the parasitic infection, known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, while knee-boarding, a sport similar to water skiing, in a water-filled channel Aug. 3 near his family's home about 30 miles east of Fort Myers, Fla.

He had been in a Miami hospital since then battling for his life. Antibiotics defeated the infection last Wednesday, but Zachary's family acknowledged online that it was a small victory because of the amount of damage his brain suffered.

He had been on a ventilator since Saturday awaiting the chance to donate his organs.

"Tonight at 10:13 p.m., Zachary Cole Reyna began his journey to save lives," his family wrote early Tuesday on its Facebook page, Pray4Number4. "Zac donated all his organs to others that were waiting on a miracle. Through donating his organs, Zac is living on. His heart will be pumping for someone, his lungs will be taking breaths for someone and all his other organs will change the lives of many."

Zachary was the second child in a month to contract the disease, which thrives in warm, fresh water and enters the body through the nose, traveling to the brain. But two of Zachary's friends who went knee boarding with him that Saturday did not get sick.

Kali Hardig, 12, of Benton, Ark., contracted the brain-eating amoeba July 19, about two weeks before Zachary, while swimming. Her condition is now stable, and last week she was able to get out of bed and walk across the hospital room, throw a basketball and sit up in bed to watch TV.

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Almost 130 people have contracted primary amoebic meningoencephalitis in the past 50 years and only one other besides Kali have survived, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arrangements for Zachary's funeral are pending. Classmates at LaBelle Middle School where he was to be a seventh-grader have been back in school for a week.

"Zac is our miracle. His strong spirit will always be among us," his family wrote. "He changed all of our lives, brought us closer to God, strengthened our family and his story has touched people around the world."