A 12-year-old boy has had his left leg amputated after it was decimated by flesh-eating bacteria.
Dakarai Moore Jr, from Detroit, Michigan, was playing sport last Thursday when he felt a strange swelling feeling behind his knee and a tightness in his calf.
Within days, he was hospitalized with blistering sores over his leg.
At that point he began to deteriorate rapidly: an invisible bacteria spread up his leg, eating his flesh to the bone.
Eventually doctors diagnosed the middle schooler with necrotizing fasciitis, a rare disease that is incredibly rare under the age of 21.
Dakarai Moore Jr was playing sport last Thursday when he felt a swelling behind his knee. Within days, he was hospitalized with blistering sores over his leg (pictured in hospital)
Tragic: Dakarai has now had his left leg amputated just days after getting the infection
Both legs were infected, but doctors managed to get the right leg under control. However, they could not do the same with the left.
His parents Charmaine Norman and Dakarai Moore helplessly watched in horror as his left leg wallowed away.
And on Thursday, they were forced to give doctors their permission to amputate his left leg in a desperate bid to save his life.
Doctors still do not know exactly how and where Dakarai contracted the bacteria.
'It's just crazy how one day your child is like this then the next day, this happens,' Charmaine told Fox 2 News.
Dakarai Sr added: 'That's the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life today... sign the papers to get his left leg amputated.'
As their son battles to recover, the family have launched a support site and aim to set up a GoFundMe page to help with their staggering medical bills.
Distraught: Dakarai's parents Charmaine Norman and Dakarai Moore helplessly watched in horror as his leg wallowed away
WHAT IS NECROTIZING FASCIITIS?
Necrotizing fasciitis and advanced bacterial infection.
It is most commonly caused by an infection with group A Streptococcus.
Usually, infections from group A strep bacteria are generally mild and are easily treated.
But in cases of necrotizing fasciitis, bacteria spread rapidly once they enter the body.
They infect flat layers of a membrane known as the fascia, which are connective bands of tissue that surround muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels.
The infection also damages the tissues next to the fascia.
Sometimes toxins made by these bacteria destroy the tissue they infect, causing it to die.
When this happens, the infection is very serious and can result in loss of limbs or death.
They also hope to spread awareness about the life-threatening condition.
'We had no understanding about it.
'If you ask all the questions in the world, and 50 doctors can't tell you anything for more than a week, we need more people to know about this.'
Necrotizing fasciitis normally lasts just a few days. It is a mild infection that affects around 200,000 Americans a year, and typically it clears itself up.
But in some unusual cases the bacteria can develop.
It can destroy skin, fat, and the tissue covering the muscles within a very short time.
The disease, a type of soft tissue infection, is sometimes called flesh-eating bacteria.
It can destroy the tissue in your skin and muscles as well as subcutaneous tissue.
Necrotizing fasciitis is most commonly caused by an infection with group A Streptococcus.
It can also be caused by Klebsiella, Clostridium, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Aeromonas hydrophila, among others.
Usually, infections from group A strep bacteria are generally mild and are easily treated.
But in cases of necrotizing fasciitis, bacteria spread rapidly once they enter the body.
They infect flat layers of a membrane known as the fascia, which are connective bands of tissue that surround muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels.
The infection also damages the tissues next to the fascia.
Sometimes toxins made by these bacteria destroy the tissue they infect, causing it to die.
When this happens, the infection is very serious and can result in loss of limbs or death.
