A 3-year-old boy from Pennsylvania contracted the rare Powassan virus from a tick bite

“A 3-year-old boy little flea could have taken our sweet child from us. We are so happy to share his story,” Jamie Simoson, Johnny Simoson’s mother, told the news on Saturday.

A 3-year-old boy in Pennsylvania has been diagnosed with a dangerous and debilitating tick-borne disease after his mother spotted a tick while swimming in a neighbor’s pool.

On June 15, Johnny Simonson was invited to join his “neighborhood friends” at his swimming pool. “Johnny never misses a chance to swim, so we hit it off!” said Jamie, the toddler’s mother, in a Facebook post.

While the kids were having fun, Jamie noticed something on his back.

“HORRIBLE Tic,” he wrote. Remembering that Johnny’s older sister Jessica was diagnosed with Lyme disease three years ago, the mother becomes an expert at recognizing the little creatures.

“We managed to remove a tick that wasn’t embedded or enlarged and ended our swimming encounter with a little S’mores surprise,” Jamie said on Facebook of the seemingly smooth day.

“He didn’t necessarily have a scar on his back shoulder until a few days later; It’s just a small red bump. That’s it,” Jamie added to the New York Post.

But two weeks later, Johnny’s daycare saw him act differently. He’s depressed, has no appetite, and complains of headaches,” Jamie wrote on Facebook.

Over the next two days, the toddler’s symptoms continued to worsen.

After taking him to the pediatrician, Johnny started taking medication. But that night he woke up with a fever, reports the New York Post. We called the doctor the next morning, and I said he slept a lot, and it wasn’t his style,” Simon told the outlet.

A few days later, Johnny’s fever rose to over 44 degrees, and his family decided to take him to the hospital. According to the publication, his increased white blood cell count had swelled to 30,000.

Bacterial and viral meningitis was later suspected because of the neutrophils a type of white blood cell. That acts like the immune system’s first responders in her umbilical cord fluid. However, soon after, the diagnosis was discarded.