SLIDELL, La. — A couple wants to make parents aware of a condition that nearly took the life of their toddler, and they want you to know about the drug that saved him.
The child is the first in the country with this condition to get emergency use of a drug not approved in the U.S.
Jacob and Katy Landry didn't think their little boy Colden would make it to his third birthday.
”It was heart, heart-wrenching for sure. He got to the point where he did code in the hospital and uh that, that, that was the point where family and friends started coming out,” said Colden’s Father Jacob Landry.
A year ago he got sick with bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and then skin spots. Doctors saw his kidneys were shutting down. So, Colden was airlifted to a hospital in Gainesville, Florida.
That's five hours away from their home. Jacob is from Slidell, but is stationed in the Florida panhandle, serving in the Air Force. Mom Katy is a patient care tech, studying to be a registered nurse.
“I just sat there and I said why. I mean there was no answer to it. You will never get an answer, but it's just something you have to get through,” said Colden’s mother Katy Landry.
Colden's organs were completely shutting down, and his heart and kidneys were not functioning. He had an infection from E. coli, a bacterium found in the stool of people and animals.
It can come from undercooked ground meat, unwashed vegetables, or swimming pools and water parks when swallowing water contaminated, maybe by a child's diaper. The infection caused hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS.
“When you start having bloody diarrhea, and start having this nausea, and fatigue and all these type of things, you got to see your doctor. And the reason why, is the further this goes, the longer, the more kidney function you're going to lose the harder it is for this to come back,” said Dr. Corey Hebert, WWL-TV Medical Correspondent and LSUHSC Professor of Pediatrics.
The doctors got emergency approval to use an IV monoclonal antibody called Eculizumab. It's used in Europe, but not approved in the U.S. Colden had to get a meningitis vaccine to protect from that side effect. The decision to try it was the toughest his parents have ever had to make. It worked. Colden began to improve.
“I sat there and I thanked God every day. Before that, I wasn't, I wasn't too close to God, and I feel like this situation definitely brought, brought Katy and I, and our whole family closer,” Jacob said.
“If your child is in any type of river, or lake, or big swimming pool, or a place like these big water parks, or even if they eat some undercooked ground beef, and they start having fatigue, and tea-colored urine, and fever, and chills, and vomiting, and bloody diarrhea, they need to go to a hospital immediately,” said Dr. Hebert.
Colden's kidneys are back to 43%. He is on a special diet, and may one day need a transplant. For now, they are giving a special t-shirt to anyone who gives a donation to help with costs. And they are looking forward to their Make-a-Wish trip to Disney World later this year.
The family wants anyone to send positive video messages to Colden focusing on his progress.
You can upload those to their Facebook page.
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