Last year, Ethan Faria's parents got the kind of news that is the worst nightmare of parent's come true. At just 15 months old, in July of 2015, he contracted a ravaging bacterial infection - Haemophilus influenzae Type B, also known as Hib - that sent him into septic shock. Doctors had to tell the parents, Rachel and Humberto, that their son might not make it. Five perent of children who contract Hib die in spite of antibiotics, and many who surive are never the same again.
Ethan hung in there.
Doctors had to amputate both legs below his knees, his right hand and part of his right arm, and a finger from his left hand in the process of trying to save Ethan's life. He was discharged from SickKids Hospital 10 weeks later, in October, after three major surgeries.
But then, for Ethan, the real work began. Ethan had to relearn how to sit up, lie down, and roll over without the full use of his limbs. Three months after being released, Ethan was fitted for prosthetics, and he had to relearn how to stand and walk. He called his prosthetics his magic legs.
Now this two year-old boy, whom many are praising for superhero-like abilities, has a book that is being launched today at Artscape Sandbox in Toronto. Money raised from book sales will go to fund SickKids Hospital and the Faria family. His mother hopes that it will help inspire other children who may have lost their limbs.
For sure, Ethan has proved that amputation isn't enough to slow him down.
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