Catalina Gutierrez, Mother of Mathías Uribe, a 14-year-old from Antioquia who lost his limbs after contracting Staphylococcus A in the United States. He recounts how the flu turned into tragedy.
In a conversation with Red Radio, the woman noted that “he started to have a high fever and his whole body turned red. We took him to the doctor and they told us he had the flu, but as time went on he got worse.. On June 30th he became very ill and we took him to the hospital and they told us he had pneumonia and then they asked us to transport him by helicopter because of gravity… At the last moment the child started to shut down. Then he went into cardiac arrest … and they revived him for six minutes,” Gutierrez said.
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Mathias is being held in a Nashville hospital, fighting for his life. He had been intubated for 14 days after contracting the bacteria.
“The bacteria entered through the bloodstream and created a form of toxic shock syndrome, causing all his organs to fail and he went into cardiac arrest. This bacteria is easy to infect, it’s everywhere, and we still don’t know how it happens. We were on vacation in Orlando, In parks and rivers; it’s hard to know how this happened,” Gutierrez explained.
The young man was put on ECMO to help oxygenate his heart and lungs. “The machine did the work for him. EIt’s a tube that puts the blood into a machine, oxygenates it, and then returns it to the body through another tube. By doing this, the blood was concentrated in the vital organs, so his limbs didn’t get enough blood flow and had to be amputated,” Gutierrez explained.
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Although Matías Uribe lost his limbs in July, his neurological condition remains intact. “From day one, despite the darkness of my situation, I thanked God that my son was alive.. I know we lost a lot, but I know my son will be successful and he will handle the prosthetics and the bionic hand,” Gutierrez said.
Matthias’ family Ask for help from people who want to collaborate on surgery, Because the young man has undergone at least 12 surgeries.
“Treatments are coming and we need to make adjustments, prosthetics are the most expensive. First of all, I want to thank everyone for their prayers and donations, every penny counts in supporting my son. Via GoFundMe “Matthias’ Miracle” or through Bancolombia’s savings account 342524202-17”, Gutierrez concluded.