NEW ORLEANS — At one year and five months old, Scarlett Wood from Mandeville already has a favorite song. It's 'Fancy Like' by Walker Hayes. Her parents know to play this song because she will instantly start to dance.
"She immediately just stopped whatever she was doing and started dancing, she's bobbing to the song," her dad, John Wood said.
Wood is a Chief in the U.S. Navy stationed in Belle Chasse. He misses those moments because for the last two weeks, he's watched as his little girl has been fighting for her life.
"She'd been having a little diarrhea, but that diaper change I noticed some blood in the diaper," Wood said.
That was June 10. Wood said Scarlett tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. It's typically carried by dairy, raw meat, or contaminated produce.
"There's so many sources for E. coli it will probably be impossible to ever know for sure exactly where she got it," Wood said.
According to the CDC, most people recover within a week, but 5 to 10 percent, like Scarlett, develop a life-threatening complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome or HUS. It caused Scarlett's kidneys to shut down.
She was airlifted to Main Ochsner's PICU and put on dialysis. Then she coded. Two and a half hours of CPR left her with brain damage.
"No one can tell us what that means. Scarlett’s the only one who will know how bad it is," Wood said.
She was put on life support and had to receive several blood transfusions a day. So when friends and neighbors asked what they could do, Wood told them to donate blood in her name. She was receiving at least 3 blood transfusions a day while on ECMO. She now receives platelets every other day.
"That was something people could do. It didn’t really cost them any money to go do and it was direct support for Scarlett and it was amazing how many people went and donated blood. We've probably far exceeded what Scarlett will ever need hopefully and we're asking people to still donate in her honor. Do it in her honor," Wood said.
The blood drives had huge turnouts, including one in Chalmette.
"They had to stop people coming because the bus was full and they were worried the blood was going to go bad and almost every donation was for Scarlett so it was amazing," Wood said. "There was another one in Covington where we heard there was over 90 units of blood donated so it's amazing."
Since early June, the FDA has been trying to trace what product sickened 10 people with the same strain of E. coli that Scarlett has. It's still being investigated and the FDA has not said whether they are believed to be connected.
Another outbreak that ended in March was traced to packaged salads. One person died.
"Just hold your babies. You never know when that last hug or kiss might be," Wood said.
Scarlett should be able to go off the ventilator on Monday. Her family hopes dialysis will help her kidneys function again soon.
"The good news is her heart and lungs are strong and we're just waiting on the kidneys," Wood said.
They are waiting for the day to see Scarlett dance to 'Fancy Like' again.
If you want to help Scarlett you can still donate blood in her name by going to any Ochsner blood drive. Tell the technician you are donating for Scarlett Leigh Wood at Ochsner Main Campus. Find one HERE: https://www.ochsner.org/giving/donate/ochsner-blood-bank/
To try and prevent E. coli infections, the CDC recommends thoroughly cooking beef, avoiding unpasteurized milk, and washing hands and produce.
The CDC adds that no washing method can remove all germs.
You can follow Scarlett's journey here: https://www.facebook.com/staystrongscarlett/