HERSHEY, Pa. (WHTM) -
Eight-year-old Deven Jackson boasts a big smile and a great laugh. It may be hard to believe that just two months ago, the Shermans Dale boy was fighting for his life.
What was thought to be strep throat turned out to be a rare and potentially fatal form of meningitis. Doctors at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown had to amputate his feet six inches below his knees.
"I couldn't walk because my feet were like black and it had stuff, it was puffing up," Deven said. "My other foot was puffing up too, and over at Lehigh they cut them off."
"He not only had meningitis, he had a blood infection too, which is really what caused him to loose his limbs," said Dr. Jeanette Ramer of Penn State Hershey Rehabilitation Hospital.
Deven also endured skin graphs, but his positive attitude is helping his recovery.
"All he asked was 'Am I gonna live?'" mother Michelle Jackson said. "'Is it going to hurt?' 'No, you are going to be asleep' and here I am bawling hysterically as I'm telling him and he's like, 'OK'"
Deven will get prosthetics and will have to learn to walk. Because he's still a fast-growing boy, he'll need new prosthetics every six months to a year.
The New York Giants football fan has received many gifts and cards during his hospital stay, but said he can't wait to get back to school.
"I have robot legs and I can run and get back in school and do all my homework and everything else," Deven said.
"He's the bravest little kid," Michelle Jackson said. "He is super brave."
The Jackson will have to make their home handicap-accessible for Deven. A fundraiser called "Race for a Cause" will be held Saturday, September 15 at the Greenwood Raceway in Thompsontown.
Donations can be made to:
Deven Jackson Fund
Bank of Landisburg
5125 Spring Road
Shermans Dale, PA 17090
