After a car accident in August 2006, 16-year-old Coweta County resident Dustin Fuller suffered a compound fracture in his leg that required a titanium rod implant. Nearly a year and a half passed, and the wounded area began to appear infected. Dustin underwent six weeks of treatment for a staph infection in January 2008 to no avail. His flu-like symptoms remained persistent, and he became dizzy, unable to walk. Dustin was transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston Feb. 20, 2008 where he was diagnosed with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, a drug-resistant disease that –a recent study revealed— has had a dramatic increase in the number of cases in kids.
Just three days before his nineteenth birthday, Dustin suffered from low oxygen levels and went into septic shock, a serious condition that occurs when an overwhelming infection leads to life-threatening low blood pressure. His outlook looked bleak. After flatlining on his birthday, Dustin fought back and was revived. He spent the next 50 days recovering at Children’s, all throughout which he shared with his clinicians and physicians that his goal was to be a Marine. Now two years after receiving care from Children’s, Dustin passed all of his physical exams with flying colors and is proudly serving the United States of America as a Marine.
