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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2018)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018 REGIONAL Boy dies from rare flesh-eating bacteria Nightmare started with bike wreck; fundraisers created to help family By KATHY ANEY STAFF WRITER Liam Flanagan seemed a typical eight-year-old boy. The Pilot Rock second grader rode his bike, scarfed down molasses cookies after school and roughhoused with his three step-brothers. He loved to wear camo and feed the animals on his fam- ily’s farm. But life, as the saying goes, can turn on a dime. On Jan. 13, Liam wrecked his bike as he rode down a hill on his family’s Spring Creek property. Blood seeped from a thigh wound where the end of the handle- bar sliced through his jeans. An emergency room doc- tor stitched him up and the incident seemed destined to fade from memory as just another foible in the life of an active young boy. Several days later, how- ever, Liam found himself fighting for his life. Flesh-eating bacte- ria, which likely entered his wound from the soil, attacked the boy’s soft tis- sue. In the days to come he would endure four surgeries to remove infected tissue. Liam’s mom, Sara Hebard and stepfather, Scott Hinkle, realized something wasn’t right that Wednesday when Liam complained of intense pain in his groin area. Scott took a look and reacted with alarm at what he saw. “It was purplish-red and gangrenous looking,” he said. “We threw him in the rig and went like hell.” After surgery at St. Anthony Hospital to remove infected tissue, Liam and his mother flew by air ambu- lance to Doernbecher Chil- dren’s Hospital in Portland early the next Thursday CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Liam Flanagan and Sara Hebard attend the Pendleton Round-Up several years ago. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Scott Hinkle and Sara Hebard of Pilot Rock lost their son, Liam Flanagan, 8, pictured in the cell phone photo, after an eight- day battle with a flesh-eating bacteria . “We don’t want any other parents to go through this.” Scott Hinkle, Liam’s stepfather CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Liam Flanagan lies in his hospital bed during his battle with necrotizing fasciitis. morning. Scott stayed back to care for the other boys. In Portland, the surreal night- mare continued as surgeons tried to stay ahead of the rare but deadly infection, known as necrotizing fasciitis, by amputating parts of the boy’s body. “They basically cut him up piece by piece,” Scott said. “Almost his whole right side was gone,” Sara said. Short legislative session is tight fit for big proposals Local legislators talk about what they’re pitching in 35-day session Sen. Bill Hansell Rep. Greg Smith By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER Rep. Greg Smith of Hep- pner said he anticipates long days when the legislature’s short session convenes Monday. The Republican repre- senting House District 57 has eight committee assign- ments, including vice chair on the House committee on revenue, co-vice chair on the joint committee on ways and means and co-chair on a ways and means subcommittee. “I’m really going to spend the vast majority of my time working pol- icy issues through money,” Smith said. Some issues are heavy lifts for the 35-day session, such as the implications the federal tax bill carries for Oregon and the state’s budget. “Oregon is 100 percent connected with federal tax law,” Smith said, so law- makers need to determine whether any parts of Ore- gon’s tax law should break those connections. That’s complicated, he said, and the conversations will not be easy. Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said at an Associated Press forum Monday “we’ve got a seri- ous budget issue” because of an expected deficit of $200 million to $300 mil- lion stemming from those changes. Republican Sen. Bill Hansell of Athena said reforming the Public Employee Retirement Sys- tem is another major piece that comes with no easy answers. Democratic Gov. Kate Brown’s task force on how to cover some of the system’s $20-billion unfunded liability included selling off state universi- ties and the State Accident Insurance Fund. Hansell called those bad ideas. SAIF, he said, is one of Ore- gon’s best functioning pro- grams, so selling that makes no sense. Hansell said he believes the short session should be about tweaks to the state’s budget, approving legisla- tion that has broad biparti- san support and amending bills that made it into law from the previous session. Senators get to propose one bill each while repre- sentatives get two, and law- makers have just 10 days to shuttle legislation through both chambers. Smith will sponsor House Bill 4153 to designate East- ern Oregon University in La Grande as the state’s rural university. Smith said the legislation is more than a “feel good” proposal. The designation would provide EOU some protection from closure or cuts during tough economic times, he said, while sending the message the state’s smaller universi- ties matter as much as their larger compatriots. Smith also said he is learning more about edu- cation policy because he serves as vice chair of the joint committee on student success. Oregon needs to take a good look at how edu- cation is working and what it should be doing better. The Hermiston School District, the largest in Smith’s House district, had the 21st worst graduation rate in the state, accord- ing to data from the Oregon Department of Education. Among the state’s largest school districts, Hermiston is eighth from the bottom. Hansell said he will push Senate Bill 1556 to help community banks. Those banks assign loans to federal finance agen- cies Fannie Mae and Fred- die Mac, Hansell explained, which require the banks to use an electronic system to file while prohibiting the banks from recording the loan assignments in the county records. Hansell said counties are suing the banks to recover recording fees and his bill would ban those lawsuits. Nothing under Oregon law requires coun- ties to record the bank’s assignments, he said, and the counties are not entitled to a recording fee. Smith and Hansell also emphasized bipartisan- ship would yield the best solutions. To see a full list of pro- posals in the upcoming ses- sion, visit www.oregonleg- islature.gov. laughing, joking and show- ing his tubes. “He told them ‘It’s just going to be a couple of days and I’ll be coming home,’” Sara said. “He was so strong and so brave.” At one point, Liam was feeling dehydrated and Sara promised she wouldn’t eat or drink until he was able. Liam wouldn’t have it. “He took my hand and said he just needed a hug,” she recalled. Scott spoke to Liam for the last time by phone on Jan. 19. “I told him to be strong “They kept cutting and hop- ing. Cutting and hoping.” Eventually, as Liam kept going downhill, he was transferred to Randall Chil- dren’s Hospital on Jan. 21 so another team could take a look at the problem. That night, Liam died. Sara said she is still pro- cessing. Her emotions run the gamut. She smiles in wonderment as she recalls how he tried to keep his fam- ily and friends from worry- ing as he lay in his hospital bed in a nest of tubes, elec- trodes, cables and monitors. He FaceTimed with friends, and that he’d be OK,” Scott said. “He said he missed me.” Now that Liam is gone, Sara and Scott are reeling in a rush of memories. “He was a bright ray of sunshine,” Sara said. “He loved everyone and every- one loved him. He was one of those people who would walk into a room and would draw everyone.” “He was a lovable kid,” Scott said of the boy who uncomplainingly helped him build fences and do other tasks around the farm. “He never had a bad word to say.” They are second-guess- ing themselves. Maybe if they’d gotten Liam to the hospital sooner when he first complained of pain they had chalked up as normal. They want other parents to know about this flesh-eating bac- teria, something they didn’t previously know about. “We don’t want any other parents to go through this,” Scott said. The community is rais- ing funds to help the fam- ily with medical and funeral expenses. A Gofundme account had already raised $43,000 as of Monday night and accounts have been set up at Banner Bank and Old West Federal Credit Union. SHOP ONLINE 24/7 HERMISTONCDJR.COM YOUR LOCAL TRUCK HEADQUARTERS NEW 2017 JEEP RENEGADE LATITUDE 4X4 NEW 2017 CHRYSLER PACIFICA TOURING NEW 2017 RAM 1500 TRADESMAN QUAD CAB 4X4 Altitude Pkg, NAV Grp w/ UConnect, Pwr/Removable Sunroof V6, 9 Spd Auto, UConnect 3C w/ 8.4” Display EcoDiesel , 8 Spd Auto, Chrome Pkg, Popular Equip. 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