Blake's Story

Blake was such a blessing to our family. He was always happy and full of life.  He loved the outdoors, watching movies, drawing, dressing up as different characters and making people laugh.  Blake also loved everyone.  He was always praying for people in need.  He loved church and telling people about Jesus.  His favorite bible verse was John 3:16 which says For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have ever lasting life.  The first part of the summer of 2012 was spent swimming at the pool, playing outdoors, going to the beach, and family trips to the lake. While at the lake on July 7th,  Blake was jumping into the lake, off of the dock, and got water up his nose. On Saturday, July 14, 2012 Blake started showing signs that something was wrong.  He began throwing up and running fever.  He was taken to the ER Sunday morning and by noon, he was not able to talk or respond well.  He was transported by ambulance from Tuomey Regional Medical Center to Palmetto Children's Hospital.  He was immediately taken to the Pediatric ICU where doctors thought he could have bacterial meningitis.  He was given strong medications through IV and a spinal tap was done to check his spinal fluid.  His condition was progressively getting worse very fast.  By Monday, he was placed on life support and Tuesday afternoon he passed away.  Our purpose for starting the Remember Blake Amoeba Awareness web page is to inform as many people as we can that this amoeba exists all the time in our lakes and in fresh water.  We want to educate the public on how to protect themselves and their loved ones.  May God Bless You!