13-Year-Old Nearly Dies From Meningitis

Grant Eyles has been through multiple surgeries

A family was blindsided when their 13-year-old's sinus cold turned into bacterial meningitis. Since the diagnosis, it’s been an uphill battle for months.

Grant Eyles has finally been released from the hospital and sent home. Saturday night the Eyles family joined friends who held a fundraiser at Fall Brewing Company in North Park for them.

Sarah Eyles is Grant’s mother. She’s been by his side in the hospital every step of the way. Her boss, Albert Silva, helped organize the event. “She’s already going through so much emotionally to watch her son fight for his life," he told NBC 7. 

He said she texted him in February, only thinking it was a cold. "She was saying he had a cold originally, sinus cold, and from that point on basically she just told me it’s more than that." 

A few days after being admitted to the hospital, they ran tests for meningitis.

Multiple surgeries later, Silva wanted to help the family financially. “Trying to help in a financial way takes a little bit of the burden away," he said. 

After months of being in the hospital, both Sarah and Grant are reunited with his younger siblings and father. “Seeing them smile and together again means everything, no words for it," Silva said. 

The long road to recovery continues but after Saturday night, the family knows they’re not in it alone. "Everybody has a brother, sister, a mom a dad, some kind of family member, and I guess times are tough. I don’t know, people just need to know they’re loved,” Silva told NBC 7.

There's also a Go Fund Me Page for the family to help with other medical bills.

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