Ten year old Lily Avant is fighting for her life after picking up a brain-eating amoeba while swimming in the Brazos River near Waco over Labor Day weekend.
The single-cell organism is scientifically called “Naegleria fowleri,” and the illness is “primary amebic meningoencephalitis. (PAM)” It is generally found in fresh water lakes and rivers or soil.
The child is in a medically induced coma at a hospital in Fort Worth.
The amoeba enters the body through the nose, travels to the brain, and destroys brain tissue.
There is a 97% mortality rate for patients with PAM.