My son, Zachary Samuel, was 14 years old. He was a very handsome young man with lots of friends and he loved baseball and skateboards. The perfect son, snuffed out in a heartbeat. Gone forever. It was if my life ended; As if I had stopped breathing. That day, Friday 12/10/05 at 7:30PM, I took my son to the Hackensack Medical Center emergency unit because of a high fever, not knowing that was the last time I would talk to him. By 10:00 PM he was fighting for his life. For 40 hours doctors didn't know what was wrong with him. On Sunday at about 4:00 PM they told me that Zachary had Flesh Eating pneumonia.

Clinical Summary: Zachary was a healthy 14 year-old boy who developed severe pneumonia requiring ventilation and ECMO, most likely community acquired. The pneumonia rapidly progressed to involve both lungs, and he developed symptoms of sepsis with multi-organ failure. He was transferred to Columbia University Children's Hospital in New York, after the doctor's at Hackensack told me they run out of the resources required to help keep him alive. I was in shock, lost and desperate. On December 15, my son suffered cardiac arrest but was resuscitated on December 18. He had pulmonary hemorrhaging, requiring right thoracotomy and repair, for 3 hours we prayed and hoped he would make it. He did. Zachary Samuel was fighting so hard to stay with us. He became our Hero. His struggle gave us new hope. I never left his side. For 12 days 18 hours I was with my boy. I remember promising Zachary, We walked into this hospital together and we're going to walk out together. I couldn't keep my promise.

On December 20th, one of the nurses showed me his x-ray. His lungs were healing. On December 21, he opened his eyes, still sedated, but I told him how proud we all were anyway. He was my Hero and the best son in the world. I saw so much pain and sadness in his eyes, at the time I didn't know my son Zachary was saying goodbye, on December 22 10:00am he was bleeding from his mouth. On the 23rd at 1:06PM, the doctors shut off the machines keeping him alive. My son, Zachary Samuel Rodriguez, past away at Columbia University Children's Hospital.

In Loving Memory To our Hero Above, Zachary Samuel Rodriguez.