Florida teen fighting to stay alive after being infected by rare brain-eating amoeba

FT. MYERS – A Florida teen is fighting to stay alive after doctors say a rare brain-eating amoeba got into his nose and infected his brain.

Caleb Ziegelbauer's family member says the 13-year-old boy went swimming at Port Charlotte Beach Park on July 1.

Five days later he was in the hospital after he started hallucinating and becoming disoriented.

The Port Charlotte teen has been at Golisano Children's Hospital ever since, where doctors believe at some point a rare brain-eating amoeba swam up his nose. It's a condition 97% of people never recover from.

His family holds out hope that he can pull through.

"We try not to look at the numbers too much because there are miracles that happen every day and I think we're going to see another one that happens here," said Lesley Cornelisen, Caleb's aunt.