Brain-eating amoeba leaves Texas teen fighting for life

But the 14-year-old was in critical condition Monday night at Texas Children’s Hospital battling a rare brain-eating amoeba and fighting for his life.

A star junior athlete is in a critical condition in the US after a killer parasite is believed to have swum up his nose while he was playing in a lake with his team-mates.

The brain-eating amoeba made its way into Michael Riley Jr.’s brain while swimming in a lake in the Sam Houston National Forest. Barely a week later, he was in a medically-induced coma. A week later, Riley was disoriented, had a fever, a severe headache and neck pain similar to symptoms of meningitis.

His terrified parents rushed him to Texas Children’s Hospital, where staff found his brain was swelling.

Australia is considered a world leader in risk management for the brain-eating amoeba following multiple deaths in four states in the 1970s and 1980s.

“TCH performed many tests but also ran an uncommon one that would help diagnose that Michael had contracted a brain-eating amoeba called Naegleria fowler, which then causes a rare disease, Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM)”, the family posted on their GoFundMe page.

“Coming from a lake, you might think maybe you’d get an ear infection, something like that”, his father, Mike Riley, told KTRK.

‘You wouldn’t think that going to the doctor’s office that they’d tell you your son only has a couple days to live’.

Officials with the Center for Disease Control say the condition is fatal 95 percent of the time and so far three people have died from it this year.

The teen’s attending doctors had recognized Michael’s symptoms due to a different case they had seen only three weeks before with a child that had not survived, according to KHOU.

They are now raising money towards his care on the Gofundme page.

Riley’s family is already trying to raise awareness while they keep praying for their miracle.