Mandy Suzanne Smith has a lot to be thankful for.
In February 2014 she nearly lost her little boy Zachary to a rare but serious condition known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome, or SJS.
This painful, life-threatening condition causes the skin to blister and separate. Smith describes it as a condition that "burns you from the inside out" and she's not wrong.
She also wants to caution parents to always take their children's health very seriously, and to always seek medical attention if something seems wrong. That sounds like pretty basic advice, but it's seriously some of the most important advice out there!
Smith also reminds us that when things look bad, like, really bad, there's always hope that we can pull through and make it out, and that sometimes, we really do get a second chance.
Read on to learn her story, and what to look out for when it comes to SJS, which typically affects children.
[H/T: Love What Matters]
It all started innocuously enough.
Mandy Suzanne Smith's son Zachary complained about a patch of what he thought was poison oak on his foot, and also the feeling that something was in his eye.
But soon, he was covered in an angry red rash and was running a high fever.
The Smiths had never seen anything like it, so they took him to the emergency room.
By this time, poor Zachary's eyes were bloodshot and his lips were cracking.
A nurse expressed that she believed Zachary was suffering from SJS, and she turned out, unfortunately, to be right.
Not only that, but the SJS had turned into TENS, or toxic epidermal necrolysis, an even more serious condition that can be fatal. Zachary was transported to a hospital in Augusta, Georgia, with a burn unit.
The SJS was brought on by an allergic reaction to some medication Zachary had been taking for migraines.
"I thought surely if he was having some type of reaction to it then it would have happened the first night that he had taken it," Smith says.
"We had even given him that medicine right before we left to bring him to [the hospital]. I was giving him the very thing that was killing him and had no idea."
By the time they got to the burn unit, Zachary was in agony. "As a parent, there is nothing in this world worse than seeing your child hurt and be that sick and not be able to do a thing about it," Smith says.
Zachary was put into a medically induced coma. Nothing, at that point, was certain, and naturally Smith was beside herself.
But she described when, while staying at a hotel in Georgia, she found comfort in the hotel room's bible.
"When I walked in, I seen a bible laying out on the desk and was opened to John 9. So I started to read it," Smith said. "It was a verse about how Jesus had healed a blind man by putting mud on his eyes and then telling him to go to Siloam and wash it off, and when he did his sight was restored.
"It was then and there at that exact moment that I had received my reassurance. I knew this was the lord telling me, 'I've got this, put your faith in me and I will deliver' and that is exactly what he did."
Ninety percent of Zachary's body was affected by SJS, and he had a lung infection as well, but he was recovering.
Zachary spent a month in the hospital, and he even told his mother that while he was in the coma, he dreamt of an angel holding him, and of his grandmother, who had passed away.
Eventually, Zachary made a full recovery, and Smith is endlessly grateful.
She also wants to share her story with other parents to make sure they remain vigilant over their children's health.
"I know that we all think nothing like this can ever happen to us or our children, but it can," she cautions.
Zachary was lucky to pull through, and to have a dedicated hospital staff and loving family by his side.
He's especially lucky, though, in that he doesn't have any lingering complications, which can happen in SJS cases. He's a healthy little trooper.
"Never take your children's health for granted because it can all change in a second," Smith says.
SHARE this family's story to make sure the little ones in your life stay safe and healthy!
