Appeal under way to help Cody stricken with flesh-eating disease

Article content

An online fundraiser is appealing to the public to help support a Quinte West family whose son has been stricken with a serious illness.

Article content

Friend Kelly Forbes is asking for donations on GoFundMe.com for Cody, the son of Tammy Warren, of Trenton, who has been struggling since June 22 when he was admitted to Emergency where doctors first believed he had pericarditis.

Two days later, Cody was found to have a “perforated esophagus and he had declined significantly,” Forbes wrote on the online webpage.

“His throat had doubled in size and his voice was hoarse because it had begun to close off. At this point he was taken by ambulance to KGH and they performed emergency surgery at 2 a.m. When he was in recovery, they said he did not have a perforated esophagus but had an infection and had to be put on a ventilator,” according to Forbes.

The situation went from bad to worse for the family.

Article content

Article content

“The cultures from testing came back on Thursday and they brought with them grave news: Cody had flesh eating bacteria (Necrotizing fasciitis). Since then, he has had two surgeries. The first one occurred in his neck (where they also discovered bacteria in his shoulder) and the second surgery was on his side, both to remove infected tissue.”

Forbes said: “It has also been discovered in the tissue surrounding his lung and heart. They are unable to remove the infected tissue surrounding his heart but are hopeful that the antibiotics will work. At this time, they are waiting for the results of the CT scan to look behind his heart and kidneys.”

A latest report by Forbes said Cody was still on a ventilator, “has lost considerable body mass and is on a feeding tube. Doctors are optimistic but it will be a long road to recovery.”

Article content

Forbes said any donations will help “offset the cost for both Cody and Tammy while he recuperates. Tammy has taken a compassionate leave from work to be with him daily and help him in his recovery. The costs are mounting and I don’t think folks realize just how much is needed to travel back and forth to support Cody in his time of need.”

“This family has been through so much in the past few years and they need all the support they can get- financially and emotionally. Any help that you could provide would be so greatly appreciated in their time of need. We will continue to update as we have more information,” she said.

As of Monday morning, the GoFundMe page has raised $5,100 from 57 donations, roughly half way to meeting the $10,000 fundraising goal launched by Forbes.

To donate, log on to GoFundMe.com and search for Warren family to locate the donation page.

Article content