Timothy and Amber Shoemake of Williamson, Georgia in the US, found themselves facing the most heartbreaking thing in the word: burying their own son. After a month of battling amoebic brain infection caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris, Leland Shoemake passed away on Sept. 25, 2015 at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Egleston hospital.
The couple had been so busy at the hospital throughout little Leland’s confinement. When he passed away, they went home to pick out his burial clothes. To their surprise, a note was on their living room table, apparently made by Leland for no one else had access to their house, anyway.
In this heartbreaking note, the boy expresses his love for his parents. He also placed “Stil (sic) with you.” The couple has no idea when the boy wrote this note yet it was comforting to have it there as a reminder of how much the child loves them.
Considering it was the very last message he wrote for his loving parents, Timothy and Amber are cherishing the heartbreaking note.
Amber shared the note and a little backstory on Facebook community page, Prayers for Leland. It has since gone viral, gaining over 23.5k likes.
This is Amber. This will be my only post on here for awhile. I was over protective of Leland and tried my best to keep…
Posted by Prayers for Leland on Monday, September 28, 2015
Causes of Brain Infection
There are many different reasons why a person can develop brain infection. Thankfully, infant vaccinations have significantly reduced the cases of brain infection.
Still, these are the most common bacteria that cause brain infection:
- Streptococcus pneumonia which causes pneumococcal meningitis
- Neisseria meningitidis which causes meningococcal meningitis
- Haemophilus influenza type b
Other types of brain infections are caused by various parasites and microorganisms.
- Parasite Toxoplasma gondii which causes toxoplasmosis
- Pork tapeworm which causes cerebral cysticercosis
- Roundworm Trichinella spiralis which causes Trichinosis
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis which causes tuberculosis that could reach the brain