When Rory Staunton scraped his arm diving for a basketball, nobody thought much about it. But two days later, the 12-year-old was fighting for his life in a New York City hospital as bacteria from the injury raced through his bloodstream. He died in the intensive care unit. The bacteria and his body’s reaction to it — a condition known as septic shock — killed him, doctors determined.

The night after Rory scraped himself he started to experience odd symptoms. “A little after midnight I heard him in the bathroom throwing up,” his mom, Orlaith Staunton, told TODAY. “So I went in. He was screaming with a pain in his leg. He said 'it's my leg, mom. It’s my leg.'”

Rory’s parents took him to their pediatrician the next morning.

“She said, ‘this is a stomach virus,” Orlaith said. “'It’s making its way around New York. I’ve seen it before. Because he hasn’t eaten he needs to be rehydrated. You need to go to the ER and have him rehydrated.’”

Rory was given fluids at NYU Langone Medical Center and sent home