Boy falls off his bike and needs seven stitches – just days later he is fighting for his life

Kids are always injuring themselves and parents of young children can often find themselves treating some injury or hurt spot on a daily basis.

So when 8-year-old Liam fell off his bike and cut his leg, his mom Sara Heberd took him to hospital thinking a few stitches would be all he needed.

Sadly the pain didn’t end there and the tragic consequences of Liam’s fall has led Sara to want to educate other parents on the deadly signs of a condition that killed her son.

Liam Flanagan was riding his bike near his family’s farm in Oregon when he had a bad fall.

He was taken to the nearest emergency room where he received seven stitches for a wound on his thigh.

“It wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t a bad one. It just needed a few stitches is all, that’s it,” mom Sara told Fox 12.

But it was after she took her brave boy home that he started to complain of pain around the wound.

His mom gave him pain killers initially but when he continued to complain, the family inspected the wound and didn’t like what they saw.

“My husband instantly freaked,” Sara told People. “He immediately said Liam had gangrene and he needed to go to the emergency room — and straight to the emergency room we went.”

Doctors discovered that Liam’s wound had been infected with a flesh-eating bacteria called necrotizing fasciitis and they performed emergency surgery to remove the flesh from around the wound.

For 8 days this brave second grader battled this rare disease but tragically died in January 2018.

It’s likely Liam contracted the disease from the soil but it’s very rare and even rarer in children; it’s more common in older people.

His mom Sara wants to make others aware of the symptoms which can include severe pain, fever and vomiting

The symptoms can occur within hours of an injury, and the skin may turn purple or swell, according to the CDC.

“Even though this is my worst nightmare, I want to believe his death had a reason, it had a purpose,” Sara told People. “Maybe it’s to save other’s lives because no one deserves to go through what we went through.”

Sara said before the accident her son was a healthy boy.

“He was a bright ray of sunshine,” Sara said, according to the New York Post.

“He loved everyone and everyone loved him. He was one of those people who would walk into a room and would draw everyone.”

So terribly tragic. Rest in peace Liam. 

Please share to warn others about the symptoms of this deadly disease.