What Happened to This 8-Month-Old Boy Is Every Mother's Worst Nightmare
At just 20-months-old, Taylor Marshall has endured more than many people do in a lifetime. A year ago, then eight months old, the precious boy was diagnosed with meningitis. The potentially deadly disease resulted in the amputation of his his left leg as well as all of his fingers and his toes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meningitis is a bacterial disease that causes inflammation in the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Taylor contracted the meningococcal septicemia strain, which causes fatigue, vomiting, chills, severe aches, diarrhea, and the dark purple rashes that Taylor developed over his body, mainly his legs.
His mother, Terri Lewsley, recently told Inside Edition that her son's tragic condition started with a temperature spike and rapidly worsened. After being rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with the tragic condition, doctors warned Terri that her son would likely not make it, and she should prepare to say her goodbyes. But after being induced into a medical coma for 17 days, Taylor hung on, and eventually made a miraculous recovery.
"We'll never know how he caught it. That's the hardest part for us," Terri told Inside Edition, adding that doctors claimed it might have been something he touched or someone coughing near him.
Taylor also suffered from kidney failure, underwent skin grafs, and was hospitalized for over six months. But through it all, Taylor fought to survive with a smile on his face, surprising his doctors, nurses, and family members. "I was so relieved he had survived and we all focused on his recovery rather than his lost limbs," Lewsley told the Mirror last year.
Four weeks after being released from the hospital last November, Taylor received a new prosthetic leg-and he hasn't let the loss of his condition hold him back since. "When he first got it, it was more like a toy to him," Terri told Inside Edition. He's now got the hang of how to put the prosthetic on, and is quickly adapting to walking with the limb. While Taylor's scar tissue will require operations for the rest of his life, his mom remains faithful that her son's fighting spirit will keep on pulling him through.
To stay updated with Taylor's journey, follow him on Facebook.
(h/t Inside Edition)
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