10-Year-Old Suddenly Dies After Discovering Mysterious Mark On Leg (Photo)
When Keith Pierce’s parents discovered a strange brown mark on his leg, they never thought it would end in tragedy.
The 10-year-old Montana boy sadly died two weeks after being bit by a brown recluse spider.
Pierce was a star football player and gifted student whose life abruptly ended after an infection triggered by a brown recluse spider bite. Reports say that on September 30, Pierce’s parents took him to a local hospital when his leg started to swell.
After medical experts ruled out cancer, they sent the boy home, according to the Daily Mail. However, the pain and symptoms lingered and Pierce’s parents rushed him to the hospital again.
Doctors then performed emergency surgery on the 10-year-old, but unfortunately, he never woke up. The next day, Pierce’s parents made the inconceivably difficult decision to end resuscitation efforts.
Now, a coroner has determined that a bacterial infection caused by a brown recluse spider bite was the cause of the fourth-grader’s death.
Since Pierce’s passing, a GoFundMe page was created to help raise funds for the family, and surpassed its goal of $10,000.
A Facebook page was also started for people to send condolences to the mourning family.
“I so enjoyed coaching Keith,” wrote Wayne Hawkins on the Facebook page. “He was an amazing young man who was a true joy to be around.”
Roper Cornutt wrote:
“We never knew Keith personally, but have a friend who was a classmate of his. He is in our thoughts now and then, and so is the parents and other family. Preston Cornutt, my owner lost a child years ago too, and for some reason he has always kept Keith a little closer to his heart [than] he would normally would do for a boy he doesn’t know or never met. Be strong. There will be good days and bad days as long as Keith holds a spot in your hearts, which I am sure will be for an eternity.”
Sources: Daily Mail, Remembering Keith Pierce/Facebook, Keith Pierce Memorial Fund/GoFundMe / Photo credit: KRTV via Daily Mail