Brain-eating amoeba leaves Texas teen fighting for life

HOUSTON -- A Houston-area teen is fighting for his life after a brain-eating amoeba entered his body while he was swimming at a local lake.

Three-time junior Olympian and honor student Michael Riley Jr. went swimming at a park with his track team August 13, when the amoeba possibly swam up his nose and into his brain.

"Coming from a lake, you might think maybe you'd get an ear infection, something like that," said his father, Mike Riley. "You wouldn't think that going to the doctor's office that they'd tell you your son only has a couple days to live, which is what they told us."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is providing experimental drugs, a medically induced coma and a cold mat therapy.

There have been five cases in the U.S. this year, two in the Houston area and one in Arkansas. Only three people have survived the brain-eating amoeba.

The Riley family is praying for a miracle and warning other parents of the symptoms that include headache, vomiting, fever and disorientation.

Extended family and friends set up a Facebook page, as well as a GoFundMe page.