COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – The family of a boy who died after contracting an amoeba in a South Carolina lake came forward with a public statement on Thursday.
The family identified the boy as 12-year-old Jaysen Carr, who died July 18 after coming in contact with Naegleria fowleri in Lake Murray.
The Carr’s attorney, Tyler Bailey, released the following statement on Thursday:
“Jaysen’s family is grieving this unthinkable loss, but they are also grateful at the outpouring of love and support they have received from the community. The family has many questions about how and why Jaysen died and wants to do everything in their power to ensure this doesn’t happen to another family. Jaysen’s family would like to thank the doctors and nurses at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital – Midlands for their dedicated care and compassion for him and their entire family. We ask for privacy at this time as the family prepares to lay their son to rest.”
Bailey also said Carr was a student at Hand Middle School in Columbia.
A GoFundMe was also recently established for the family.
The South Carolina Department of Public Health has stressed that while Naegleria fowleri is naturally occurring in nearly all warm bodies of water and that human infection is very rare.
State officials also said that this is not a wider public emergency.
This is the first case of Naegleria fowleri in the state since 2016. Nationwide, there have only been 167 cases reported in the past 62 years.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WIS for the latest details.
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