‘We’re sorry, there’s no cure:’ Parents of boy share how brain-amoeba suddenly killed him after swimming at lake

4years ago

Gainesville news, Florida news.

A 13-year-old Florida boy has passed away days after contracting a brain-eating amoeba while swimming with his pals at campground lake.

Tanner Lake Wall started feeling sick a couple of days after swimming: “Nausea, vomiting, pretty bad headaches,” his grieving father said of the symptoms that were initially diagnosed as a strep throat at a local hospital.

“I said, ‘You know what? Unhook him. Do whatever you need to do. We will transport him ourselves. I’m standing at the front door. Come outside. We will take him where we have to go,” the dad told the staff before rushing to UF Health.

There, the boy was put on a ventilator: “They said, ‘We’re sorry to tell you this, but your son does not have bacterial meningitis. He has a parasitic amoeba, and there is no cure.’”

Tanner was taken off a ventilator when his brain stopped functioning. He dies August 2: “He was very active. He loved the outdoors. He loves hunting, fishing,” Tanner’s mom said adding that they hope other parents beware.

The brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, lives in bodies of water and enters the human body through the nose.