\n<\/p>\n
Jamie Gruber was living the dream.<\/p>\n
The father-of-two had moved his family from chilly Michigan<\/a>\u00a0to the sun-soaked coast of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and they were overjoyed. The children spent virtually all their time outside by the pool, playing soccer or cycling around town.<\/p>\n But 14 months into the family’s new life, their eldest, eight-year-old Sebastian, suddenly became unwell.<\/p>\n ‘We honestly didn’t know what was wrong,’ Gruber told the Daily Mail. ‘We thought he was maybe dehydrated, maybe it was a cold that eight-year-olds tend to get.’<\/p>\n They put him on bed rest, but their son continued to deteriorate.<\/p>\n He had a fever that would spike up and down, often over 100F (37.7C). He looked drained, his skin lost its youthful glow and small circles formed around his eyes.<\/p>\n After two days with no improvement, the parents took him to a local clinic in November 2023 where doctors delivered the diagnosis: He had dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus and subject of CDC warnings<\/a>\u00a0that can trigger brain bleeds.<\/p>\n ‘Of course, as a parent, the worst ideas go through your mind,’ Gruber said. ‘Thoughts of the worst outcome always enter your mind, even if it was never going to get to that point.’<\/p>\n Jamie Gruber said that, as a parent, the worst thoughts go through your head when you find out that your child has the disease<\/p>\n<\/div>\n