Seven-year-old Kierken McNeely is all smiles, surrounded by friends and enjoying first grade with his classmates.

It’s hard to imagine that just a few short years ago, doctors told Kierken’s family that he had a 5 percent chance to live.

Amanda McNeely, Kierken’s mother, said saying goodbye to her son was never an option.

“It was devastating, but we kept our hopes up and never said goodbye to him. We never allowed that negativity in his room,” she said.

McNeely said Kierken came home with a cough in December 2014, and when his father took him to see a doctor, he was diagnosed with croup.

When McNeely arrived home that day around 4 p.m., she said he was still coughing and complaining of a headache.

“I told him I was going to take a shower; then we’d go back to the doctor because I was worried about him. While I was in the shower, his lungs collapsed while he was on our couch,” she said.

He was intubated at Children’s Hospital in Little Rock that night, she said, and doctors still believed at the time that he had a bad case of croup.

The next night, his blood pressure began to drop.

“He coded twice. They put him on ECMO, which is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and it’s a lot like a heart-lung bypass machine,” McNeely said.

The next day, she and her husband, Kevin, woke up to find out that Kierken was septic, she said.

McNeely said Kierken had group A streptococcus that had gone undetected and gotten into his blood stream.

“At 7 o’clock that night, they told us they had to open up his chest, and he had a 5 percent chance of making it. They had to connect the ECMO directly to his heart. His kidneys were failing, and his heart wasn’t beating, but he made it through the surgery,” she said.

It was the first time doctors at Children’s Hospital had ever connected ECMO directly to the heart for that type of infection, she said.

McNeely said Kierken remained on ECMO for 74 days, his chest was open for more than 60 days, and he worked through a variety of medical complications within that time.

“It was the longest any kid at Children’s has been on ECMO,” she said.

The hospital changed policies, the experience will be documented in a medical journal, and Children’s Hospital shares Kierken’s story at ECMO conventions, she said.

“They told me he was one of three kids who had ever survived that infection at the hospital,” McNeely said.

One memory from the experience stands out among the others in McNeely’s mind.

Doctors found a quarter-sized hole in Kierken’s lung during his stay at the hospital, and McNeely said the hole closed up on its own within two days.

“When they went in to glue it, it was gone. They couldn’t find it,” she said, “He’s a miracle all around.”

Kierken was taken off the ventilator on Easter 2015 but ended up undergoing a tracheostomy at the end of April, she said.

McNeely said Kierken had to learn how to walk and eat again in rehab.

“His voice is still like a whisper, but they’re hoping it’ll come back in time,” she said.

McNeely said Kierken came off the ventilator by November 2015, and his trach came out in September 2016.

“He just had surgery this past March and got his fistula for his trach sewn shut, and he got to go back to school this year,” she said.

Cindy Wade, Kierken’s first-grade teacher at Northside Elementary School in Cabot, described Kierken as energetic, imaginative, sweet and fun-loving.

Wade, who also tutored Kierken while he was homebound last year, said he has adjusted incredibly well to being at school.

“I was concerned that it would be difficult for him to be in a class with 20 or more other students, when being one on one with his parents or myself was what was familiar to him. I am very proud of him and how he has embraced school,” she said.

Kierken is a fighter and has overcome many obstacles in his life, Wade said.

“He is not afraid to tell his story and has shared with many people that he knows God is who saved him,” she said.

Wade said she’s excited about Kierken starting school this year and added that he is doing well learning about routines and expectations.

“My hope is that Kierken meets and exceeds first-grade standards. I hope he makes many new friends. I hope to instill in him a love for learning that will last a lifetime,” Wade said.

McNeely said people often don’t realize just how dangerous septic shock is, and that Kierken was lucky to survive it.

“He never had a fever or anything. We had no idea any of that was about to happen. We just thought it was croup,” McNeely said.

Parents should always push for tests and pay attention to their intuition when it comes to the safety of their children, she said.

“If symptoms don’t get better, go again. It isn’t worth the risk,” McNeely said.

“I try not to tell myself ‘should have’ — but I will always push now.”

She and her husband received a lot of support from family, friends and the community through it all, she said.

“It was hard on Kevin and me, but ultimately, we stuck together. We tried to be understanding of each other’s feelings because we were both coping in our own ways. I shut down, and I had to focus on not shutting him out as well, because he was going through it also,” she said.

McNeely’s brother and sister-in-law created a GoFundMe account for Kierken that raised more than $5,000, she said, and other family members raised money by fundraising as well.

“People don’t realize how common sepsis is. I feel like people should be more aware of what could happen if you let strep or something else go. I think it’s important to push for strep tests and to follow your gut,” she said.

“People always think, ‘It’ll never happen to me,’” she said, “but we thought that also.”

McNeely said she admires her son’s strength and bravery more than anything.

He’s not ashamed of his scars but shows them off and tells his story, she said.

“He never let it stop him. He’s so happy for having gone through so much, and he just keeps me going when I see the smile on his face after all he’s been through,” she said.

McNeely said she hopes Kierken has a happy future and enjoys being able to feel like a kid again.

“I’m thrilled that he gets to have normal experiences again. I know how much that means to him. I don’t know what he’ll do in the future, but I believe it’s going to be great. He was saved for a reason,” McNeely said.

“When I tutored him last year, there were two things he desperately wanted,” Wade said. “The first was friends to play with, and the second was to eat in the cafeteria. I am happy to report that Kierken has made many friends that he plays with on the playground, and he gets to eat in the cafeteria every day.”

Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.