American Doctor Reflects on a Medical Miracle: "It Was Hashem's Kindness"

When Callie Hardig went to a water park with her friends in Arkansas, USA, nobody expected any danger to befall her.

She was just 12 years old.

Before the trip, Callie mentioned to her mother that she felt a headache and nausea coming on, and her mother suggested she stay home instead of going. But Callie insisted, saying, "It’ll pass."

However, when Callie returned home later that day after playing games with her friends and jumping into pools, her parents knew something was wrong. Callie clutched her head and cried, "Mom, it hurts." They rushed to the hospital, where the doctor gravely informed them, "Callie appears to have been infected by a brain-eating amoeba in the contaminated water, entering through her nasal passages."

The parents were horrified. "How could this be? She was just playing in the swimming pool." The doctors explained that she was suffering from a rare form of meningitis caused by an amoeba (known as Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis).

The attending physician, Dr. Matt Linam, an infectious disease specialist, was with Callie from the beginning. "We had to tell her parents that it was very likely she wouldn’t survive—possibly within 48 hours," said Dr. Linam. "Simply because we knew the statistics. Only two people in North America ever survived this infection. 99 percent of patients die very quickly."

Yet, the doctors at Arkansas Children's Hospital didn't waste any time. "We drained the infection from Callie's body and used a rare, non-approved German medication provided by the CDC," Dr. Linam recounted. In the next phase, Callie's body temperature was lowered to 93 degrees Fahrenheit, and she was placed in a medically induced coma "in an attempt to reduce brain swelling."

For two weeks, the medical team worked around the clock at Callie's bedside. "It was like a race against time, with one goal in mind: keep her alive. Yet, it was a complex task, constantly balancing her blood pressure because high pressure could exacerbate brain swelling."

During that time, her parents whispered in her ear, "Fight, sweetheart." There was nothing else they could do.

"We had good hours and bad hours, not days," Dr. Linam said. "We weren’t sure she would ever be the same little girl, if she woke up at all. We simply didn’t know what the outcome would be."

Her parents’ belief and their whispers most likely saved the little girl. "Two days after she was put under, she communicated with us using her thumb. We spoke, and her thumb moved in response. We can't explain it, but we know she heard us."

As her vital signs showed dramatic improvement, the doctors decided to gradually bring her out of sedation. It took a few days, but once she awoke, the real test began. "We needed to see how she functioned, and it was astonishing. The improvement she showed over eight weeks was incredible. She had to relearn basic functions like swallowing and walking, but ultimately—she became survivor number three," said Dr. Linam.

According to him, they truly don’t know why she managed to survive. "We had a 12-year-old boy from Florida who was diagnosed with the exact same infection a few days after Callie. He received the same German medication, but he didn’t survive. There’s no doubt that Callie's case was Hashem's kindness. Moreover, countless small miracles occurred every day along the way that made the difference between life and death."