Garrett

After all he’s been through, Garrett Kelley definitely deserves a little “R & R”.

A couple of summers ago, he began to feel pain in his right hip. His thigh muscles were tensing up, and he was having trouble walking.

Blood tests revealed nothing out of the ordinary, and his ailment was diagnosed as a pulled muscle. After all, the 14-year-old was training for the upcoming football season, so a little strain could be expected.

But the injury kept bothering Garrett. He began to feel sick. Then he noticed a rash developing on his ailing leg. That’s when his parents decided to take him to their family physician.

“When the doctor saw the rash, he said we needed to get him to Children’s Hospital,” says Garrett’s dad, Scott.

The “Air George” helicopter was soon on its way from Children’s to transport Garrett to the hospital’s main campus.

“By the time the helicopter came he had this big rash all over his entire body,” says his dad. “Just big red welts all over.”

He was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children’s. There, a broad spectrum of tests was run to determine the cause of Garrett’s illness.

Turns out he had contracted an MRSA staph infection. It’s a potentially fatal strain of staph that is resistant to most antibiotics and can be extremely difficult to treat. While most MRSA infections stay in one area of the body, ten percent of them can infect other areas, as well.

“He was one of the ten percent,” says Scott.

The infection had spread beyond his hip. It had gotten into his spinal column fluid and given him spinal meningitis. It was also damaging his kidneys. These microscopic bacteria were ravaging his entire body.

“It was the most scared I’ve ever been,” says his dad.

Thankfully, Garrett couldn’t have been in a better place. The care team at Children’s, which included Drs. Newton Seiden, Michael Elliott, Jolie Limon and Norma Figueroa, devised a treatment plan that would help Garrett fight off the infection.

It took six months, 23 surgeries, and countless medications, but in the end, Garrett won the fight.

“The nurses and doctors there were extremely kind,” says Garrett, “and they made it feel like home there at the hospital.”

Home is exactly where Garrett is now. He has a few physical reminders of the illness, but doctors say he should be able to live a normal life.

And for this 16-year-old, that would mean playing football again.

Though he won’t strap on a helmet this year, Garrett is counting the days to next summer. That’s when he hopes to rejoin his friends on the gridiron as a senior wide receiver for the Stockdale High Mustangs.

“Everything’s coming back to normal and I’m trying to get ready,” he says. “I’ve been back to the gym, weightlifting, running on the treadmill and just trying to get back into the football spirit, and back into the game.”

Looks like it’ll be a short vacation for this island hopper.

Journey Sponsored by Wells Fargo
Adventure Sponsored by David & Lisa Krause