A one-year-old boy was rushed to a Valley hospital Tuesday night after his family says he might have been stung by a scorpion.
A close call, his family believes could have ended far worse.
"Right now, he's just lying in the bed as a shell of himself,” said Matt Schoeman, the boy’s father.
Valley doctors are treating one-year-old Eric, as his mom and dad wait for answers.
"It's horrible for her to watch that and for me to see it over a video call,” added Matt Schoeman.
Schoeman is racing from Canada to the Valley to see his little guy.
His wife and son traveled to Phoenix for a visit.
While here, Eric's parents believe a scorpion might have stung him.
"When my wife brought him in, the doctors assumed it was a sting just by the way my wife found him completely paralyzed and not breathing properly,” added Matt Schoeman.
Fear, according to Schoeman’s mother-in-law, consumed Eric's family soon after his mom put him to bed Tuesday night.
"They heard some sounds. They did not know what it was. It sounded like a dog was barking. They kind of checked on his door and was listening at his door and he was fine,” said Laurie Top, the boy’s grandmother.
After an hour, the boy's mother checked on him again.
"He was in really bad shape at that point. He wasn't breathing well. He couldn't talk or make sounds at that point. He was as stiff as a board and covered in sweat,” added Top.
His family says doctors gave the boy five anti-venom shots. The first, they say, showed improvement. But, the other four did not.
Now, like doctors, Eric's family is wondering if he had a reaction to something else and not a scorpion.
"It's just the not knowing, especially with the medical people, who don't know what to do with him or how treat him. That's the really scary part,” added Top.
A medical mystery, this family hopes, will be solved soon as their loved one remains in the hospital.
Added stress, the father says, is insurance. The family is insured in Canada. But, only the wife who has dual citizenship in the United States, has insurance here.
The family has set up a fundraiser.
