LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. — When a Lake Havasu family was visiting San Diego in October, they had no idea the fall that their 3-year-old son took on his bike would become the medical nightmare they are now living.
Beauden Baumkirchner was riding his bicycle around his family’s campsite outside of San Diego, when he fell off, scraping his knee.
“He’s done that many, many times as any three-year-old boy will do.” Brian Baumkirchner said, remembering that day.
The wound was cleaned and a bandage was placed over the scrape, yet less than 48 hours later, the boy was fighting for his life.
It started with Beauden feeling sleepy early in the evening. The next day, the normally active little boy, was quiet and not feeling well. By the following morning, he was running a fever and his knee was swollen.
Baumkirchner was admitted into Rady’s Children’s Hospital and quickly seen by several doctors and nurses.
“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,” Brian Baumkirchner said. “They thought they were going to lose him, for sure, that night.”
A Staph infection had quickly spread its way through the 3-year-old’s body.
“The Staph infection -- they knew it was some kind of bacterial infection, but weren’t sure what it was -- but you can see it spreading in his legs, down to all of his extremities,” explained Brian Baumkirchner. “They thought they were going to lose him for sure that first day.”
According to the Mayo Clinic:
Staph infections are caused by staphylococcus bacteria, types of germs commonly found on the skin or in the nose of even healthy individuals. Most of the time, these bacteria cause no problems or result in relatively minor skin infections.
But staph infections can turn deadly if the bacteria invade deeper into your body, entering your bloodstream, joints, bones, lungs or heart. A growing number of otherwise healthy people are developing life-threatening staph infections.
The infection caused a loss of blood flow in Beauden’s limbs. After every attempt was made by RCH staff to get his blood circulating again, Beauden ended up having both legs amputated. First, below the knees, then above the knees.
As Brian and his wife, Juliana, stay in San Diego, the bills are mounting. In hopes to help the family, Beauden’s uncle started a GoFundMe to help the family with the medical and living costs.
“This poor little boy has done nothing to anybody; he’s just this innocent little boy,” His father said, trying to make sense of a chaotic situation. “Don’t take any days for granted, that’s for sure.”
While the account grows modestly, the family is focused on getting their boy better, so he can go home and recuperate.
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