A San Diego-area high school freshman is recovering from a series of surgeries after an infection of flesh-eating bacteria forced doctors to amputate his leg.
Fourteen-year-old Giancarlo Gil, a member of a traveling baseball team from Chula Vista and the freshman football team at Chula Vista High School, is recovering at Rady Children’s Hospital, according to a family friend.
“He’s a fighter and I really want to think he’ll go through the normal emotions of something devastating happening … we know he’ll pull through,” said Jesse Ortega, a spokesman for the family.
Last Saturday, Giancarlo was complaining of pain in his calf after playing baseball. Ortega said it quickly escalated from there, and Giancarlo was taken to urgent care and then the emergency room.
Doctors said a flesh-eating bacteria was causing him to vomit and his calf area started to swell up and bruise, Ortega said. Doctors originally amputated Giancarlo's leg to the knee. By Monday, his leg had to be amputated all the way up to his groin.
The family is hoping that is the last of the surgeries and that Giancarlo can start recovering now, according to Ortega.
Sweetwater Union High School District is looking at how to handle this situation and has reached out to the County Health Department for guidance.
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"We are in contact with the student’s family and we have reached out to the County Public Health Department for guidance on next steps we can take at Chula Vista High School. Our thoughts are with the family and we are hoping for the best in this very difficult situation," said Manny Rubio, a spokesman for the Sweetwater Union High School District.
It is unclear how the teen contracted the bacteria.
Anyone looking to help can donate to the family by clicking here or give blood in his name at The San Diego Blood Bank off Market Street.
