Tennessee piano starlet, 14, has hands and feet amputated after flu-like illness led to deadly toxic shock

SUMNER COUNTY, TENNESSEE: After contracting a flu-like illness that resulted in a fatal immune overreaction, a teenage Tennessee piano prodigy had to have his hands and feet amputated.

In mid-June, the 14-year-old Mathias Uribe of Sumner County fell ill with what seemed to be a simple cold, but within weeks, he could hardly breathe and was taken to the emergency room.

He was given the diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome by medical professionals. This condition develops when infections release toxins into the bloodstream, where they spread to the organs, causing immense harm.

Teenager's extremities rotted and turned gangrenous

Mathias Uribe's skin on his extremities rotted and turned gangrenous, necessitating the amputation of all four of his limbs when his lungs started to fail and he was placed on life support.

Seeing old videos of Mathias playing the piano and running,  according to Mathias' mother, Catalina Uribe, is "really hard." She added, "But at the same time, I look at him and I'm like, 'he's here.'"

The team responsible for saving Mathias's life was led by pediatric ICU physician Dr Katie Boyle. According to her, his case was "extremely rare."

Teenager was diagnosed with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome

She said, "Sometimes when you get the flu, it does set you up for a bacterial infection. But even then, most kids don’t get nearly as sick as Mathias did."

The group A streptococcus bacteria, which are frequently found in the throat and on the skin and are typically benign. But in Mathias' case, it caused streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.

Teenager's radical amputation kept infection from spreading

Someone's vulnerability to relatively harmless bacteria increases when their immune system has already been compromised by an infection.

On June 30, Mathias' situation changed when he was rushed to the hospital and experienced a cardiac arrest.

He was transported by helicopter to the Monroe Carell Jr Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, where a life-support system was present.

Mathias' parents were informed by medical professionals that his hands and feet would need to be amputated after 20 days of intensive treatment.

While the 12-day period he spent on the life-support machine had saved his life by supplying blood to his vital organs, his extremities did not received enough blood flow.

Too much time spent depriving a limb of blood and oxygen can cause the tissue to deteriorate and become infected.

Additionally, the inflammation brought on by sepsis causes blood to clot and thicken, making it more difficult for blood to circulate throughout the body.

The body's tissues started to deteriorate due to a lack of nutrients, which led to gangrene in the fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, and legs, as reported by DailyMail.

To stop the spread of infection in Mathias' body, this dead tissue had to be removed. As his case was severe, the radical amputation was necessary.

Mathias has had more than a dozen operations so far, but he still needs a few more.

He is anticipated to remain at the Vanderbilt Monroe Carell Jr Children's Hospital for. His family is organizing a fundraiser to pay for his medical expenses and prosthetics. They are hopeful that Mathias will eventually be able to play the piano and take part in sports once more.

Mom tells teenager he will have 'an amazing life'

His mother said she had a conversation with her son and told him, "You are going to have an amazing life."

She also boosted his spirits, saying, "You are going to do whatever you want to do. You don’t have limits because you are here Mathias, you are here."

His father added, "I told him we are going to be your arms and legs until we figure all of this out."