After the tragic death of local first grader Leland Shoemake, the Pike County community is pulling together to show support for the family with a Friday, October 9 event planned at the pre-K building from 4 to 8 p.m. Leland passed away after battling balamuthia mandrillaris for several weeks – undergoing dozens of tests and procedures during his stay in the hospital. Love.’ He also drew a red heart that contained three words: mom, dad and love.
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“I was overprotective of Leland and tried my best to keep him safe”, his mother, Amber, wrote in a heartfelt post on the Prayers for Leland Facebook page.
As WSBTV reports, the six-year-old began fighting to survive after an amoeba called Balamuthia mandrillaris entered his body and created an infection that caused his brain to swell. “He could have done great things in this world…He never met a stranger and he loved everyone”. He’s what made her a mother. We struggled so hard to have him.
A gofundme.com account titled Help for Leland was set up to help the family with medical expenses from all the time he spent in the hospital.
The grieving mom added: ‘No one should ever have to bury a child. I always said I hope it’s me that goes first bc I don’t think I’m strong enough to handle something like this. The funeral was held Monday afternoon at Oak Hill Baptist Church.
At first doctors were baffled by his illness and initially suspected meningitis before confirming the amebic infection.
Just five days later on 26 September they shared the news that Leland had died. Eventually, his mother noticed that his eyes were crossed and he couldn’t focus on anything.
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“We have no idea when he wrote it but you can tell he was always a special child”, Amber Shoemake wrote in the post. Leland contracted the infection while playing the dirt about two weeks ago.
