PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Little Ethan Deane started his new year fighting off a life-threatening blood infection.

 

But on Friday, the now healthy 3-year-old was able to thank the nurse and medical student who fought with him.

 

"My jaw dropped when I saw him running around," said third-year Tufts University medical student Ted Handler, who cared for Ethan at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

 

"I still worried about him after he left. He was exhausted. To see him playing with his brother and smiling was the ultimate reward."

The infection can lead to sepsis and organ failure. Only about 10,000 cases are reported nationally and it leads to more than 1,000 deaths annually.

 

"He was a pretty complicated case," Handler said during a phone interview. "It was an atypical presentation of the illness and he was tough to figure out."

 

Handler first met Ethan in early January when he started his rounds. The 3-year-old was dehydrated and his kidneys were starting to fail. He refused to eat and was losing weight. He had a rash and sores that were getting worse. His temperature remained in the triple digits. He was on the brink of needing admission to the intensive care unit.

 

"He had a rash and his fever was 103. He hurt and hurt," Ethan's mother, Angela Gajda, said. "There was a huge sore in his mouth and his lips were bleeding."

 

The symptoms had started a few days before, on a Friday, after Gajda herself had gotten over a case of strep throat. Ethan woke with a fever but but the swabs for strep came back negative.

 

Over the weekend, they returned to Berkshire Medical Center's emergency room because things had gotten worse and his heart rate was high. Doctors ultimately sent him to Baystate that Monday and, shortly after, the testing discovered what was wrong.

 

For a total of 13 days, doctors pumped antibiotics and nutrients into him through a peripherally inserted central catheter. Handler and pediatric nurse Shakema Ali spent hours in the room with the young boy every day, celebrating every little success.

 

"He had to have a blood transfusion because his iron levels were so low," Gajda said. 

 

After more than a week of antibiotics, Ethan finally ate on his own. A few days later, Ali and Handler sent him home with one final recommendation — to play with his brother. The two had been not only there to deliver medicine but to comfort him throughout the 24-hour treatment cycles. 

 

Ethan doodled on a piece of paper that last day and gave it to Handler hours before he left the Springfield hospital. Not only was Ethan a complicated and severe case, he was also one of Handler's first patients.

 

"I'll save [the doodle] for the rest of my career," Handler said.

 

Gajda said it isn't known how the bacteria got into Ethan's bloodstream and she may never know. Doctors believe the bacteria may have entered through an open sore in his mouth. 

 

Ethan and his family returned to Baystate this past Friday, but not because he was sick. The family had gone there to thank Ali and Handler for their efforts in helping to save Ethan's life.

 

"It was so nice. Ethan remembered them instantly," his mother said. "It was nice to see them on good terms."

 

Handler said medical professionals don't often get to see results of their efforts: Patients who return healthy and with thanks.

 

"It was impactful for me. It isn't very often we get to see our patients healthy. To know that what I did for them made a difference was tremendous," he said.