UNC doctors save teen from serious infection
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- On Thursday, the UNC Children's Hospital is hosting a Radiothon to raise money for programs, therapies, and services they provide to patients, which includes one young man from Siler City who almost lost his leg and his life due to a simple scratch.
"I was just working on the farm, bumped my leg and got a scratch and didn't think nothing of it," recalled Austin Campbell.
However, two weeks later that small, superficial scratch on his lower leg had gotten worse.
"I guess he was on the school bus and felt like something was crawling on him and he touched it and it just kind of busted open, and drainage," explained his mom, Michelle Christian.
Austin saw his doctor who lanced the spot, cleaned it, and sent the 16 year old home with antibiotics. But within 48 hours, his fever had spiked and he could hardly move so his mom rushed him to the ER at Chatham Hospital.
"He was in kidney failure, and they were going to transfer him from Chatham Hospital to UNC. His blood pressure had bottomed out, so that was a concern. He was basically in septic shock," Michelle explained.
Austin was indeed taken immediately to UNC where doctors credit the emergency room staff at Chatham Hospital with recognizing the severity of the situation.
As it turned out, somehow the teenager had gotten a Strep infection inside the scratch, and then when it was lanced at the doctor's office it also picked up a staph infection, which meant doctors at UNC had to act fast just to save the leg.
"They took him directly to surgery and they came out and told me I'd have to sign a consent, that they might have to take his leg," said Michelle.
Thankfully, a collaborative effort between different doctors and departments allowed doctors to reverse the kidney failure as well as avoid amputation, although it was touch-and-go during much of his four week-long stay there which involved 11 different surgeries.
"The procedure to stop the process of necrotizing fasciitisis about as aggressive a procedure as we do," Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Bill Adamson said. "We essentially have to open up the leg and dissect down to all the different components, so we can basically wash the infection out of those spots."
Austin received skin grafts to cover the sections of skin that were removed to clean out the infection. While he will likely have scarring for the rest of his life, doctors are optimistic he'll regain full use of his leg, which is a relief for the active high schooler.
"I'm looking forward to those first couple steps - that's all I want, to be able to walk again," said a determined Austin after being released from the hospital.
As for the infection that landed him in the hospitals, doctors said it is rare in otherwise healthy individuals. While they say he did nothing wrong that contributed to this, it can happen.
"It's on our skin. It's on my skin, your skin. It's on freshly sterilized skin in the OR. It's part of our normal environment. What we can't tell you is why this Strep bacteria multiplied so quickly that it caused this problem," said Dr. Adamson.
He added that there's not much patients can do to prevent infections like these, besides monitoring wounds, even superficial ones, for any indication that they're getting larger or aren't healing the way they should. And, you can't just wait for signs of complications, because doctors - kids especially, can go from fine to a dire state very quickly.
"Our patients, we know have the ability to - even a newborn baby - to hold on to their vital signs right until the crash. So that's why you're going to have someone in this situation who would be relatively healthy in pretty good shape then have a pretty ominous sign like renal failure," said Dr. Adamson.
As for Austin, he was just released from UNC Children's Hospital this week and both he and his mother say they're incredibly grateful to the staff there for saving both is leg and his life.
For more on the UNC Radiothon, you can listen live to six Curtis Media Group radio stations, broadcasting live from the Children's lobby, including 94.7 QDR, Radio 96.1, Pulse 102, and La Ley.
To learn more about where the money is going or to make a donations visit http://ncchildrenspromise.org/
