Joey Comstock, a junior at Caledonia-Mumford High School, summer vacation came to an unexpectedly quick close in late August.

A sudden and violent onset of illness came over Comstock and he spent the remaining days of his summer vacation in Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester. Doctors determined that the teen was infected with E. coli.

On Aug. 21, Comstock became ill with what his parents Terri Comstock and David Straub thought was a stomach bug. The following day, Joey was worse and his mother called the doctor who reassured her it was probably a virus and not to worry.

By Sunday morning, the teen was worse and was disoriented. He was making no sense at all, his mother said.

A second call to the doctor led to the recommendation that the teen go to the emergency room for evaluation.

“The longer we were in the emergency room, the less he knew or could make sense,” Terri Comstock said.

She was convinced her son was just dehydrated but after numerous tests, the doctors determined that Comstock’s kidneys were not functioning. He was started on an intravenous dose of antibiotics and placed on dialysis. The teen spent seven days in the intensive care unit where doctors  confirmed their diagnosis that Comstock had contracted E. coli.  As a result, the teen suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome, or kidney failure.