Deadly water: The Dangers of Swimming in Warm, Freshwater Lakes, Ponds and Rivers

Aug. 29, 2010, marks the “angelversary” of the death of then 7-year-old Kyle Gracin Lewis. Kyle spent the week being the outdoorsy little boy he was – swimming, fishing, boating and camping in Lake Granbury and the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas. A perfect family weekend right before school started.

The Lewis family clings on to those moments now before their little boy became ill and died at Cook Children’s Medical Center. Kyle died from the Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), which was caused by the water-born amoeba Naegleria fowleri.

Since Kyle’s death, his parents and their 15-year old daughter Peyton have become passionate advocates to make people aware of brain-eating parasites that are common in fresh, warm water. The family helped to make Cook Children’s the first hospital in the nation to house a life-saving investigational drug called miltefosine.

Still, nothing will ever make up for the loss of their little boy. Especially as we mark not only the date of Kyle’s death, but recent reports of young people being infected by Naegleria fowleri and dying after going in Texas and Oklahoma lakes.

“It’s always difficult this time of year, especially when you hear of more cases,” Jeremy Lewis, Kyle’s dad, said. “Those reports hurt. It’s like the wounds are open again.”

The Lewis family started the Kyle Lewis Amoeba Awareness Foundation with the goal of informing families of the potential dangers which exist in most freshwater.

Continued at:  https://www.checkupnewsroom.com/deadly-waterthe-dangers-of-swimming-in-warm-freshwater-lakes-ponds-and-rivers/