A South Bay teen who lost his leg after a bout with a flesh-eating bacterial infection is now standing tall thanks to his new prosthetic.
Giancarlo Gil is learning to walk again at the age of 15, but he said, "It's scary, but it's getting better."
Late last year, doctors had to amputate his right leg to save his life.
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"I try to fight through it, I guess," the Chula Vista teen told 10News.
In September, Giancarlo was playing baseball when he noticed something was wrong with is leg.
"I was just running to first base once second, and the next second I was in pain. I took myself out of the second game … and then it just got progressively worse," he said.
Somehow and somewhere, Giancarlo picked up the deadly flesh-eating bacteria necrotizing fasciitis.
"Well, that is still to be determined … even doctors don't know. Nobody knows," he said.
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Giancarlo doesn't remember much from his weeks in critical condition at Rady Children's Hospital.
He woke up after a few weeks without a leg.
"He fought like a true trooper," said his mother, Silvia Gil.
His first thought?
"OK, this is what happened. Just move forward from now on," Giancarlo said.
Seven months later, he has a new prosthetic leg.
"One of my best accomplishments is like just getting this leg and starting to walk on it again," he said. "It takes getting used to."
"[I] just have to learn to line the motions, to bend, and start trusting the leg," he added.
"I called him my mighty warrior. That's what I called him throughout the whole ordeal. He was my mighty warrior because he fought it," his mother said.
Giancarlo's physical therapist said he will be able to conquer anything.
"One goal I want to accomplish … well, get back to school in a few months, walking again and eventually get back into sports," he said.
"I do think, like, why did this have to happen to me? But I think about it for a little bit and then move past [it], forward. I know this happened for a reason," Giancarlo added.
