Boy fell off his bike and cut his thigh. Flesh-eating bacteria spread and killed him.

Taking a nasty fall while riding a bicycle is a normal part of childhood for many.

But for 8-year-old Liam Flanagan, it led to his death.

The boy was cruising downhill on his bike in Pendleton, Oregon, on Jan. 13 when he crashed his bike and cut open his thigh on its handlebar, according to The Spokesman-Review. His mom, Sara Hebard, and stepfather, Scott Hinkle, decided to take him to the emergency room where doctors gave him seven stitches.

He went home. But the pain didn’t go away for Liam — it only worsened and Tylenol didn’t seem to help, his parents told KPTV.

He kept complaining of pain in his groin area, so Hinkle checked it out on Jan. 17.

That’s when he noticed the skin around the second grader’s groin area was “purplish-red and gangrenous looking,” The Spokesman-Review reported.

Liam received an emergency surgery at a local hospital that day, his mom told KPTV, and was then airlifted to a children’s hospital for additional surgeries. The bacteria had infected tissue from his armpit to his ankle, and doctors tried to cut it all out to stop the spread.

“They basically cut him up piece by piece,” Hinkle told The Spokesman-Review.

“Almost his whole right side was gone,” Hebard added. “They kept cutting and hoping. Cutting and hoping.”

But it didn’t work. Liam died Sunday from a flesh-eating bacterial infection called necrotizing fasciitis that doctors believe got into his wound from soil, the Associated Press reported.

“Liam left this cruel world last night to be with my mom and to watch over me forever,” his mom wrote on a GoFundMe page. “Mommy loves you to the moon and back and I will never forget how special you were and the light that shone so bright from you.”

Hebard and Hinkle told the Associated Press that they want to make sure other parents are aware of this rare strain of flesh-eating bacteria — and the deadly implications it can have for their children, too.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, necrotizing fasciitis has “symptoms (that) start early, but can often be confusing.” The infected wounds are often red or purplish and hurt more than they appear they should. Other signs of the disease include ulcers, black spots or blisters on the skin and fever, chills and vomiting.

“If you have these symptoms, see a doctor right away,” the CDC advises, as both antibiotics and surgery are often required to stop the disease from spreading.

Liam’s parents said they’re still shocked that what appeared to be a harmless injury could turn deadly.

“It just needed a few stitches is all, that’s it,” Hebard told KPTV. “And he was taking it like a trooper. I mean, how… how… that’s what I ask – how? And there's just no answer.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 8:40 AM with the headline "Boy fell off his bike and cut his thigh. Flesh-eating bacteria spread and killed him.."