Killer Parasite puts 14-Year-old in critical condition

Rather than starting high school, a star junior athlete is fighting for his life at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Three times junior Olympian Michael Riley jnr, 14, is in critical condition after brain-eating amoeba entered his body through nose while he was playing with teammates in a lake.

Riley’s father Mike Riley said that when one comes after having good fun from a lake then it is not expected to visit a doctor who says that he has just few days left to live. After a week of playing into a lake at the Sam Houston National Forest, Riley woke up with a fever and headache.

The family took Riley to doctors at a local clinic, but they could not identify the reason. After two days on August 21, Riley was having unbearable headache and neck pain. It was then found out that the rare naegleria fowleri amoeba has entered in his body.

Information on the family’s ‘Miracle4Michael’ Facebook page revealed that Riley is in critical condition and family is keeping a watch on him throughout the day. His family said that every hour is a waiting game to know whether or not he will be able to pull through. Their all hopes are now tied to God and the family has also requested for donations to meet medical expense.

Boy is being given a drug called miltefosine and all the hopes for Riley’s life on this drug. In many other nations, the drug is being used to treat parasitic infection, but in the US it is considered as experimental.