8-year-old boy dies from flesh-eating bacteria days after falling off bike

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 8-year-old boy dies from rare flesh-eating bacteria When Sara Hebard's 8-year-old son suffered a minor injury after falling off his bicycle, she never expected her boy would be fighting for his life just days later

An 8-year-old Oregon boy has died from a rare flesh-eating bacteria just days after suffering a minor injury from a bike accident.

Liam Flanagan of Pilot Rock, Ore., was riding his bike down a hill on his family's farm when he wrecked, and the bike's handlebar cut through his jeans, causing a deep cut on his thigh, the East Oregonian reported. He was taken to the emergency room, stitched up and sent home, but within days he was back at the hospital fighting for his life.

Liam's mother, Sara Hebard, told People that when she brought Liam to the doctor following the accident, he thought her son's injury was minor enough that he didn't need antibiotics.

“He said it hurt, but it was his very first accident, and he never had stitches before,” Hebard, 37, told People.

Three days later, Liam was still complaining about pain and Hebard and her husband Scott Hinkle, noticed that the skin around his groin and thigh was discolored. She rushed her son to the hospital, where doctors tried to remove the infected tissue.

Doctors believe flesh-eating bacteria, which is known as necrotizing fasciitis, likely entered Liam's wound from the soil, the East Oregonian reported. Necrotizing fasciitis spreads quickly, killing the body's soft tissue. Immediate surgery is critical to prevent death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On Thursday morning, Liam was airlifted to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, where doctors continued to amputate parts of Liam's body in hopes of saving his life.

“Almost his whole right side was gone,” Hebard told the East Oregonian. “They kept cutting and hoping. Cutting and hoping.”

On Jan. 21, Liam died at the hospital.

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Hebard said she hopes Liam's death will serve as a reminder to parents to be on the lookout for symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis, which include fever, chills, fatigue, and vomiting. The symptoms can occur within hours of an injury, and the skin may turn purplish or swell, according to the CDC.

“Even though this is my worst nightmare, I want to believe his death had a reason, it had a purpose," Hebard told People. "Maybe it’s to save other’s lives because no one deserves to go through what we went through."

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A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Liam's family pay for funeral and medical costs.