Seven-year-old Cain Wick of Sheboygan is on the 5th floor of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
He’s bedridden in ICU with kidney failure. He’s been in the hospital for more than two weeks now.
His parents, Meghann and Zach Wick, said Cain had a bad fever on April 30. That night it was 105 degrees, so they took him to the ER.
Doctors sent them home with Tylenol, but that didn’t do much. Cain was getting worse. His organs were shutting down. His muscles were breaking down.
“That was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life and that was the worst day of my life,” said Zach. “I had no idea you could even get this sick from the flu. I just had no idea.”
His doctor told TODAY’S TMJ4 Cain is doing much better than he was a couple weeks ago.
“He still has problems with his kidneys, he still has kidney failure, requiring dialysis at this time and that’s really one of his biggest problems,” said Dr. Rainer Gedeit.
Gedeit said he might need dialysis long-term or a kidney transplant. Time will tell. His parents said the Sheboygan community has been amazing during this hard time.
“We were crushed, we were crumbled so they’ve built us back up,” said Meghann.
A fundraiser was held for the Wick family at the Pizza Ranch in Sheboygan on Thursday night.
“It’s amazing. I’m very proud of the community. The humanity in people just warms your heart. It takes you from your darkest moment to see such light. It’s beautiful,” said Meghann.
Cain still can’t get out of his hospital bed because of the muscle breakdown he’s suffered.
His mom said he still gets fevers every day and he’s still in pain. His parents sleep in his room every night just so he doesn’t get scared.
“He wants to get out of bed, he wants to get home and play with his friends and get on the playground,” Meghann said.
“I understand with the muscle breakdown it’s going to be a lot of rehabilitation,” said Meghann.
His parents said this happy first-grader is a fighter.
“The first thing he said when they took him out of that coma he was in, was 'I’m good,'" said Zach.
