Mum's heartbreaking warning after boy almost dies from mosquito bite
A mother whose little boy almost died after being bitten by a mosquito, has warned other parents about the life-threatening dangers from insect-bourne infections.
Six-year-old Noah was hospitalised last weekend when he had a seizure after complaining of a headache.
“Noah’s lips were blue, eyes fixed looking up and was completely limp, he had a seizure,” LoriAnne Surrett said on Facebook yesterday.
Doctors confirmed her little boy was suffering from La Crosse Encephalitis, one of a group of mosquito-transmitted viruses that can cause encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain.
The mother-of-five from Waynesville, North Carolina in the US, said she and her husband took precautions to prevent mosquito bites, like using insect spray, but Noah was still bitten.
“Noah is a spunky little dude that sickness never brings him down so this is breaking all of our hearts,” she wrote.
She described getting a phone call from her mother in law telling her Noah wasn’t acting right and an ambulance was coming, as the “scariest call of my life”.
“Noah’s lips were blue, eyes fixed looking up and was completely limp he had a seizure. I panicked and everyone else did, they carried him to the ambulance,” she wrote.
She told local TV news WLOS that watching him being rushed to hospital was “the scariest thing I’ve every been through in my life”.
“I literally thought my kid was gone when I saw him.”
La Crosse encephalitis involves inflammation of the brain, with symptoms including nausea, headache and vomiting, but in more severe cases seizures, coma, paralysis and permanent brain damage.
“He screams out in pain from the headaches, and he’s really just like a zombie,” Ms Surrett said.
“It’s scary, it’s really scary. I don’t want no parent to have to go through this.”
In her most recent update this morning, the worried mum was relieved that Noah finally woke up after being given antibiotics and anti-seizure medication, and was responsive.
“He talked about snakes, the fire he saw on the TV, and how he wanted to go home.
“Prayers are working, he still has a ways to go but after 5 days not hearing that sweet little voice I swear it was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
She said doctors were hopeful Noah will make a full recovery and he is expected to spend at least five more days in hospital.
By sharing her son’s story, the woman hoped to warn other parents about the potential dangers of mosquito-bourne viruses.
