Dylan Riley didn’t think twice about the small cut on his right knee from diving for a frisbee one sunny October afternoon.
The 31-year-old self-described klutz tripped on his way to pick up the rogue frisbee, leaving a small cut behind.
His mother, Trina White, an infectious disease nurse, initially ruled out an infection. But two weeks later, he woke up with flu-like symptoms, quickly spiraling into an inability to move his body.
He said: ‘The only thing I could do was turn my head and holler for my roommates to help me and that’s when they called 911.’
Mr Riley was rushed to Oklahoma City’s Baptist Integris Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.
The same bacteria that causes strep throat had infiltrated Mr Riley’s bloodstream, causing his immune system to go haywire and begin attacking healthy tissue.
Dr. Bob Schoaps, Medical Director for Specialty Critical Care and Acute Mechanical Circulatory Support at the hospital, said: ‘He came into our hospital severely sick, on death’s doorstep practically.’
If he had waited much longer in his apartment to feel better, his doctor said, odds are Mr Riley would have died.
Dylan Riley’s seemingly innocuous cut on his knee progressed into life-threatening toxic shock syndrome. He was unconscious for about five days until waking up unsure of what brought him there
The doctor who treated Mr Riley said the typical survival rate is around 10 percent or less.
His mother got the call no mother wants to receive on Nov 10, 2023 – that her son was on the brink of death and being rushed to the hospital.
Mrs White said: ‘I got to the emergency room, and they immediately took me back and said, “We don’t have time. Do you want to put him on life support or not?”
‘I remember being confused and saying, “I am so sorry, but I believe you have the wrong family.” But then I walked around the corner and I saw my son laying there, not the son I knew, of course, and my heart sank at that moment.’
Mr Riley was placed on the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, commonly abbreviated as ECMO, which sustains heart and lung function when a person is in critical condition. It is often considered a patient’s last hope.
When someone suffers goes into toxic shock, the immune system attacks healthy organs and prevents blood and oxygen flowing through the body.
The lack of blood means extremities begin to die and rot, and organs begin to fail.
Mrs White said: ‘As a mother, it’s your worst nightmare. I said, “Do what you have to do and save my son.”’
While the machine kept his vital organs functional, it did not allow for oxygenated blood to circulate.
After a couple of days, his limbs to the tips of his ears began to turn black, a sign that skin tissue was dying.
Right before Christmas 2023, doctors had to amputate Mr Riley’s legs from the knee down. His extremeties – including his hands as shown here – had begun to turn black due to a lack of oxygenated blood flowing to them while he was on life support
Mr Riley was fitted for prosthetic legs on a Friday in May. By the following Monday, he was tackling curbs and steps. He has recently gotten back into some of his hobbies such as league bowling
Mr Riley was unconscious for about five days in the hospital until doctors were able to remove him from the ECMO machine.
When he awoke, having not remembered the past week, his family prepared him for the possibility that he could lose a limb or two.
His mother told People that she feared she had made the wrong decision in agreeing to put him on life support, knowing it could still result in limb loss.
She said: ‘I was selfish. I wanted my son. I didn’t care what he looked like. I didn’t care what parts we lost.
‘I worried he would hold that against me. I worried that he would be upset that he’s living a life so different than what he knew.’
But her son assured her that ‘it doesn’t matter. The main thing is I’m still here.’
Doctors tried to save as much of his extremities as possible.
Just before Christmas in 2023, doctors amputated Mr Riley’s legs from the knee down. A month later, they removed most of both of his hands.
He managed to retain his right palm, while on his left hand, surgeons were able to save part of his thumb along with portions of his index and middle fingers.
Fortunately, some areas of his hand healed. He can still hold a pen and write, but he’ll never be able to use power tools like he did during his career in welding and construction.
He said: ‘Come to find out, I had been in contact with somebody who had strep throat, and the bacteria from the streptococcal had gotten into my wound and into my bloodstream.
‘Throughout that week of me feeling like I had the flu, thinking I would just get past it, the bacteria invaded my blood system and shut down my heart, my lungs, my kidneys, causing me to be on life support for five days.’
He suffered numerous uncomfortable side effects, including losing his taste buds so that no food was appetizing and all-over skin peeling, similar to how a snake sheds its skin.
Priding himself on ‘always [trying] to see the positive in things,’ Mr Riley relied on his sense of humor to make it through the challenging ordeal and help his friends and family through it as well.
He said: ‘Seeing them cry, I am like, “Don’t, cause you’re going to make me cry.” And so my first instinct is always make them laugh, so I was sitting there making jokes about the amputations.’
Mr Riley is pictured before his near-fatal injury last fall. Throughout the ordeal, friends and family said he never lost his sense of humor and is taking these major life changes in stride
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His positive attitude appears to have had a similarly positive effect on his recovery.
On Friday, May 17, Mr Riley was fitted with prosthetic legs. By Monday, he was tackling steps and curbs.
A year later, he has returned to some of his hobbies, like league bowling and frisbee golf.
Mr Riley often visits other amputees in the hospital before their surgeries to offer them hope.
He said: ‘I can at least help them realize that this isn’t the end of it — this is just the beginning of their new story.
‘You can go one of two directions: You can move forward and excel, or you can sit there and linger and take steps back.
