When the Meincke family of rural Stockton got together in July at husband and father Kyle’s softball game, 3-year-old Logan just wasn’t himself.

The toddler had a touch of diarrhea, which meant his mother, Jenny, took him to the restroom several times. On the other hand, the little fellow also ran around and chased after foul balls that left the field.

“Initially it looked like the flu,” Jenny Meincke said.

But when the family went home, Logan vomited after drinking some milk, so his parents decided to take him to a hospital emergency department.

Once the family got there, Logan was quickly admitted. The Meinckes spent two nights in Davenport before doctors decided to refer the case to University Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. 

Once Logan was admitted to that hospital, the diagnosis came quickly: It was an Escherichia coli, or E. coli, bacterial infection.

While many people recover from such infections in a week or two, young children such as Logan can have serious complications, and that is what happened. He developed a life-threatening form of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.

In January, the toddler underwent a kidney transplant with his mother as the donor.

The Meinckes have health insurance coverage, but the travel and other costs still have added up through a difficult situation that has continued for seven months. Friends of the couple, Jamie and Jason Collier, organized the Team Logan Benefit taking place Saturday night in Walcott.