A 2-year-old St. George boy who survived cardiac arrest and emergency open-heart surgery is now facing the possibility of losing both legs and parts of his hands after a Strep A infection spiraled into sepsis. Silas has spent the past week in the intensive care unit at a Salt Lake City hospital as his parents wait to learn how much of his body the infection has damaged.
His mother, Devonea Askey, brought Silas to St. George Regional Hospital three times before doctors identified the true severity of what was happening, according to KUTV. Silas had a high fever and severe cough, with a temperature that reached 102.9 degrees, and doctors initially attributed his symptoms to a rhinovirus. He also began having trouble walking on his right leg.
It wasn't rhinovirus. Doctors later determined Silas had Strep A that turned into sepsis, KUTV reports. His heart rate spiked to 200 beats per minute, and doctors found a blood clot in his leg. A lack of blood flow caused Silas to go into cardiac arrest, and his parents were given an agonizing choice: withdraw life support or move forward with open-heart surgery.
An Airlift to Salt Lake City and a Successful Surgery
Silas was flown to Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, the only ACS-verified Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in the Intermountain West, per the Trauma Survivors Network.
The open-heart surgery was successful, KUTV reports. But the fight isn't over. Doctors have told his parents he has a chance of losing his right leg above the knee, a high chance of losing his left leg, and may lose both hands or several fingers. He may also need reconstructive plastic surgery, according to the same account.
A Recognized National Pattern in Severe Strep A Cases
What happened to Silas fits a pattern health officials have been tracking since the pandemic. The CDC issued public health advisories in late 2022 and 2023 warning that invasive Group A Streptococcus infections had increased or remained high in some areas, with some areas exceeding pre-pandemic levels, according to the CDC. A retrospective surveillance study by University of Utah and Primary Children's Hospital researchers found that streptococcal toxic shock syndrome complicated 16% of pediatric invasive Strep A cases in Utah in 2022-2023, compared with just 5% before the pandemic, per findings published on Oxford Academic.
Clinical literature describes purpura fulminans as involving microvascular thrombosis, skin necrosis and disseminated intravascular coagulation in cases of severe sepsis, according to StatPearls. Severe pediatric sepsis can have serious consequences, including possible limb loss.
Waiting, Hoping, and Facing a Mounting Bill
Silas's father, Gabriel Martinez, told KUTV he wants his son to simply recover and stay alive. Before he got sick, Silas loved being outside, running, riding his bike and swimming, the outlet reports. Now he is awaiting news about whether he will lose any limbs, and his parents have stayed by his side throughout, according to the report.
Askey and Martinez have created a GoFundMe campaign seeking help with medical expenses, travel costs, meals and lost work time. The family is seeking help with those expenses as Silas remains hospitalized. Martinez's advice to other parents, as he sits with his son awaiting answers, is simple: cherish the time you have with your children.
