SKYLER HENRY:
00:00:57
12-year-old Jaysen Carr was enjoying the summer before the July 4 holiday, swimming in South Carolina's Lake Murray about 15 miles outside Columbia. Days later, he told his parents he had a headache. He never complains about anything. So we knew when he started complaining that something was wrong.
SKYLER HENRY:
00:01:16
Clarence and Ebony Carr gave him some medication. The next day, they took Jaysen to the hospital, where he was able to walk in on his own. He died two weeks later. Hindsight 20/20, this was no headache. He was being attacked.
SKYLER HENRY:
00:01:32
Carr was infected with Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba found in warm, fresh water, like lakes or rivers. It enters through the nose, usually when someone jumps or dives in the water. The Centers for Disease Control reports fewer than 10 cases each year in the US, but nearly all are fatal. And it is the job of state and local health departments to test fresh water, but they don't have unlimited resources. You can't test for everything. You have to focus on the most common things and the most dangerous things. And, unfortunately, this infection is not common enough to be doing routine testing.
SKYLER HENRY:
00:02:08
The Carr family is now pushing for more water testing and spreading the word about the dangerous infection. What has this last several weeks been like? The worst moments of our lives. A nightmare that I'm still waiting to wake up from. We just went back home a couple of days ago, just from knowing the memories that we have there with him and knowing that I'm waiting on him to come through the door. And they say that what they will miss the most is Jaysen's smile. Now, state officials did say that the exposure likely did happen at Lake Murray, but there are no federal recommendations to test for-- that ambient sample water for Naegleria fowleri, and there are no scientific thresholds for determining any sort of unsafe levels of the amoeba in those waters. Vlad. Absolutely heartbreaking, Skyler. All of our hearts go out to that family. What a beautiful little boy. Thank you very much for your report.
