At just 12 years old, Dakarai Moore, Jr. Is dealing with the aftermath of an illness that almost took his life.
We first told you about him over the summer, when he was hospitalized after contracting a flesh eating disease. Doctors had to amputate his leg in order to save him.
Now, for the first time, we're hearing his story of survival and strength.
For the first time in 3 months, Dakarai is doing one of the things he loves – playing basketball.
Only now - things are different. He’s playing from a wheelchair.
In August, Dakarai's left leg had to be amputated because he suddenly got a flesh eating disease, Necrotizing Fasciitis.
How it happened is still a mystery.
”It was pain in my legs, it was hard to walk,” he says. “I had fell and that's when I seen that something was wrong and I was scared. I told my mom I need to go to a hospital.”
Doctors were forced to remove Dakarai's left leg to save his life. In spite of all that was happening, this 12-year-old was determined to rise above all the uncertainty.
“I was pretty scared at first, but then I saw my dad and mom crying and I had to be strong for them,” he says. “I has to be strong and believe that I was gonna live.”
While there has been no sign of the infection in Dakarai's body for months, the health of his right leg is in question.
But that isn't slowing him down, either.
We were with Dakarai and his parents as he took his first trip since his hospitalization. Part of his rehab is playing in a youth wheelchair basketball team.
Something else that’s making his parents happy? Seeing how he has never wavered in his positivity.
Dakarai, who's a 7th grader at Great Oaks Academy in Warren, is focused on getting his body stronger, but his fighting spirit is already there.
Dakarai is hopeful he'll be able to get a prosthetic leg one day and get back to doing all the things he loves.
There's still no word on how long Dakarai will have to stay in the hospital, but his family is hoping he'll be allowed to go home for at least one day this week - Thanksgiving.
