Brian and Juliana Baumkirchner of Lake Havasu, Arizona, are living every parent’s nightmare.
What seemed to be a simple accident has forever changed the life of their 3-year-old son Beauden.
It all began during a camping trip the family of five took to a site just outside of San Diego. Beauden had been riding his bike around the site and took a tumble.
As his father told 12News,
“He’s done that many, many times as any three-year-old boy will do.”
If you are a parent or have ever supervised young children, you know how this goes. When a child in shorts meets the ground with any amount of force, there will be scraped knees. So you check them out, clean them up, apply a bandage and a kiss or two, and all is good.
Usually.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for young Beauden. Even though his parents did all that any caring parent would do in the circumstances.
Within 48 hours, Beauden was fighting for his life.
His parents began to notice changes that very evening. Nothing too concerning; he was feeling sleepy early in the evening. But I’m sure most of us wouldn’t give that too much thought, especially after a busy day outdoors.
However, things continued to get worse. During the following day, this boy who is usually full of vigor was abnormally quiet and not feeling well. By the next morning, his knee was visibly swollen, and he was running a fever.
That morning, not more than 48 hours after scraping his knee, he was admitted to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, California where he was seen to almost immediately.
According to Brian Baumkirchner,
“The ICU doctor said that his labs, when he came in, were of concern, for sure. But the lab work at 1 p.m., just three hours later, his whole body was shutting down. They thought they were going to lose him, for sure, that night.”
It was a staph infection that was spreading through the boy’s body.
The Cleveland Clinic says this:
“The bacteria that causes a staph infection, staphylococcus aureus, is all around you all the time. It lives on surfaces and on the ground. You might also carry it on your skin and in your nose. But when staph enters your body through a nick or cut in your skin, it may result in an infection.”
Staph infections aren’t typically serious and can be treated with antibiotics. However, when they enter the bloodstream, as would have happened to Beauden when he scraped his knee, they can become life-threatening.
And the Mayo Clinic adds this frightening fact:
“A growing number of otherwise healthy people are developing life-threatening staph infections.”
Beauden’s dad told 12 News,
“You can see it spreading in his legs, down to all of his extremities. They thought they were going to lose him for sure that first day.”
The infection cut off the blood flow to Beauden’s arms and legs.
Although his doctors did all they could to stimulate his blood flow, Beauden first went through an amputation of his legs below the knees and then again above the knees.
This was just the start of a long and terrible journey for him and his parents.
NBC San Diego reports that,
“In just six weeks, the boy has undergone more than 17 surgeries.”
In addition to losing his legs, he also had to have several of his fingers amputated.
Strangers reach out to offer support.
Beauden’s parents have been there with him, staying in San Diego, but the bills are mounting up. Beauden’s uncle has started a GoFundMe to help with some of the expenses.
And he got another special treat. After being intubated and asleep for two weeks, one of the first things he asked for when waking up was “fire trucks.” He got his wish in a way he probably never imagined.
His dad wheeled him out of the hospital in a little red wagon. And there to greet him on the street was Capt. Joe Amador of the San Diego Fire Department and his crew in front of one of their big red engines.
Beauden’s parents are grateful for the help they’ve been getting. She told NBC San Diego,
“We’re getting support from people all over the states, really. It’s incredible when you’re in such a dark place and you receive all this light from people, it really lifts you up.”
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