An 8-year-old boy from Oregon named Liam Flanagan tragically passed away a couple of days after he fell off his bike. He had a nasty fall where the handlebar of his bike tore through his jeans and made a deep gash in his thigh. Since the injury looked pretty severe, Liam’s parents took him to the emergency room to get stitches
All was fine until he experienced massive amounts of pain around the wound area even after a doctor had treated him. It was Liam’s mother who rushed him to the hospital after the accident and stood by him while doctors stitched her son’s thigh. The doctors believed that the injury was not severe enough to put Liam on antibiotics and left it at that.
Liam fell off his bike and ended up contracting a flesh-eating bacteria from the soil
Liam’s mother Sara said in an interview with People, “He said it hurt, but it was his very first accident, and he never had stitches before.”
Sara and Liam’s stepfather, Scott Hinkle, grew increasingly worried when the boy complained of severe pains in the whole of his right side. They noticed Liam’s arm and knew something was definitely wrong so they took another trip to the hospital. Hinkle said “It was purplish-red and gangrenous looking. We threw him in the rig and went like hell.”
His parents rushed him to the hospital after noticing discoloration in his right arm
To their horror doctors found that his flesh was being eaten alive due to a bacterial infection known as necrotizing fasciitis. Liam was immediately prepped for surgery and underwent a procedure at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton, Oregon. He was then transferred by an air ambulance to the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital where doctors tried saving his life through amputation.
Doctors tried amputating his leg in an attempt to stop the spread of the bacteria to the rest of his body but it was too late 
“Almost his whole right side was gone,” his mother said. “They kept cutting and hoping. Cutting and hoping.” His condition worsened and it wasn’t long until his body couldn’t take anymore. Liam passed away a couple of days after his surgery.
Doctors believed that the immensely dangerous bacteria likely infected Liam’s open wound through the soil. This kind of flesh-eating bacteria is known to be exceptionally aggressive and spread rapidly through the body and damage the tissue with no hopes of recovery.
Liam’s parents hope that their loss will serve as a reminder to parents everywhere to be extra cautious of their children’s accidents
Liam’s parents were devastated over the loss of their son but hope that Liam’s story will serve as a reminder to parents everywhere. “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.”
