Family of 2-year-old who died from E. coli complication shares story

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The story of Grayson Dunham is best told in pictures.

“Kayla, she’s an avid photographer and avid blogger, her star client is Grayson, so Grayson was always posted all over the place, lots of pictures taken,” said Grayson’s dad, Brent Dunham.

In black and white and in color, the moments in his two years of life have been captured on canvas and in frames.

“We have hundreds, I mean thousands and thousands and thousands of pictures,” said Kayla.

Pictures, that preserve memories of the son taken from them too soon.

“It went from one extreme to the next extreme in five days,” Kayla said.

It started on Wednesday, August 10.

“Grayson woke up and he sat up in bed and he started vomiting just like clear mucus,” Kayla said.

A few days later, he started to have really bad abdominal pains.

“So Saturday morning as soon as the pediatrician’s office opened back up we took him straight in,” Brent said.

“They did ultrasounds and x-rays of his chest and his stomach,” added Kayla.

“He was getting some rest but he was very lethargic and tired,” Brent said.

“It was still hard for us because we kept asking questions to the doctors and I kept looking them in the eyes and saying, ‘I need to know if he’s gonna be okay’, and they kept saying, ‘We’re very optimistic that we’re gonna get through this’,” Kayla said.

Doctors thought it was something with his intestines, then his appendix. By Sunday, he was at Riley Hospital for children where they diagnosed him with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome or HUS, something that can be contracted from E. coli.

“It’s primarily in children under the age of 5, and they get a G.I. bug, gastrointestinal infection by a certain type of infection known as E. coli,” said Jamie Coleman, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Trauma Surgeon at IU Health Methodist.

“What happens is the E. coli gets into the digestive system and starts to release toxins. These toxins then unfortunately start to attack red blood cells, as well as cause kidney injury, as well as kidney failure. And in fact, it’s the leading cause of acute or quick onset kidney failure in children,” Coleman added.

Sunday night, Grayson’s family thought he was stable enough for them to take a nap, but after one hour, that changed.

“They came in and said you need to get here because Grayson’s levels have just dropped,” Brent said.

His heart was not pumping on its own. The Dunham’s said doctors and nurses performed CPR on him for almost one hour and 45 minutes.

“They did their best, but Grayson passed at 4:30 that morning,” Brent said.

“That’s when I’m like did we do enough? As parents, you know you advocate as much as you can for them and push for them but you can only do so much,” said Kayla.

Sitting in their living room, surrounded by pictures of Grayson, they continue to share his story.

“Being able to advocate and continue Grayson’s story has been something that’s kept us strong,” said Brent.

The Dunham’s may never know whether Grayson contracted E. coli from food, unclean water or an animal.

“All of the universal factors, being two years old, they likely will never be able to pinpoint where it came from,” Kayla said.

“Prevention is key with HUS and that’s because we know what it’s caused from, E. coli, and a specific type of E. Coli. This can come from food, under-cooked meat, it can come from unclean water, whether that’s not rinsing a vegetable, a fresh vegetable or fruit very well, those need to be rinsed with good, clean water before eating. Really good hand hygiene, especially before and after diaper changes,” Coleman said.

There are some symptoms you can look out for.

“Typically with HUS or Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, children present with diarrhea and it can often be bloody, and it usually lasts for several days before the toxins really start to build up and parents then can notice decreased urine output, a child that’s just lethargic, doesn’t want to eat, doesn’t really want to play, doesn’t really want to do anything and even easy bruising,” Coleman said.

The Dunham’s are honoring Grayson’s life by establishing a fund in his name at Riley Children’s Hospital. To donate, click here.