GOLDEN, Colo. - Chance Moore celebrated a birthday Saturday that four years ago his family feared he might never reach because of a food-borne illness.
"It was maybe the most helpless feeling you can have as a parent--knowing there is nothing you can do," says Chance's father Kip.
The Moores were vacationing in South Dakota in late July 2005 when a morning meal turned into a nightmare. "I ordered a skillet breakfast that had ground beef and I shared it with my son Chance. It contained tainted beef and both of us got E-coli," says Kip.
Days later, Kip thought he had the flu.
But Chance got much more sick. He had bloody diarrhea. His parents rushed him to Children's Hospital where he'd fight for his life the next four weeks.
"It attacks every part of your body. Chance was in pain every minute for 3 weeks," says his mother Marti.
His kidneys shut down. Then, his lungs filled with fluid.
"I could tell something was wrong. He just started to labor (his breathing). All of a sudden he went, 'Huuuuh.' And he didn't breathe any more after that. I started screaming," says Marti.
Doctors said he'd need a kidney transplant.
But then something unexplainable happened and Chance recovered the next day.
"About 2:00 in the morning, I saw a light come on in the room. I thought it was a nurse. They were coming in every four hours...When I pulled the curtain back, I saw a light over Chance, is the best way I can describe it," says Kip.
"My angel came," says a smiling Chance. He called it his angel. His family doesn't know what it was.
"All I know is my kid got better and I'm thankful every day," says Kip.
But the family's fight wasn't over. They took up the cause of food safety. They have helped Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette publicize their story. DeGette is a sponsor of several bills to improve the nation's food safety system.
The Centers for Disease Control says every year 76-million people are infected with a food-borne illness. 325,000 of them go to the hospital. And 5,000 will die.
The House has already passed a food reform bill. And the Senate is expected to vote on its version the next couple months. The two bills would then be combined into one final bill.
If it passes, it would be the first major reform in 70 years.
Also, Kip wrote a book about their ordeal called "Second Chance. The Story of a Father's Faith, A Mother's Strength and a Child's Will to Live."
"I am using our second chance with Chance to go out and inform other parents," says Kip.
And now four years later, a boy once near death embraces life. And he lives up to his name.
"It was maybe the most helpless feeling you can have as a parent--knowing there is nothing you can do," says Chance's father Kip.
The Moores were vacationing in South Dakota in late July 2005 when a morning meal turned into a nightmare. "I ordered a skillet breakfast that had ground beef and I shared it with my son Chance. It contained tainted beef and both of us got E-coli," says Kip.
Days later, Kip thought he had the flu.
But Chance got much more sick. He had bloody diarrhea. His parents rushed him to Children's Hospital where he'd fight for his life the next four weeks.
"It attacks every part of your body. Chance was in pain every minute for 3 weeks," says his mother Marti.
His kidneys shut down. Then, his lungs filled with fluid.
"I could tell something was wrong. He just started to labor (his breathing). All of a sudden he went, 'Huuuuh.' And he didn't breathe any more after that. I started screaming," says Marti.
Doctors said he'd need a kidney transplant.
But then something unexplainable happened and Chance recovered the next day.
"About 2:00 in the morning, I saw a light come on in the room. I thought it was a nurse. They were coming in every four hours...When I pulled the curtain back, I saw a light over Chance, is the best way I can describe it," says Kip.
"My angel came," says a smiling Chance. He called it his angel. His family doesn't know what it was.
"All I know is my kid got better and I'm thankful every day," says Kip.
But the family's fight wasn't over. They took up the cause of food safety. They have helped Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette publicize their story. DeGette is a sponsor of several bills to improve the nation's food safety system.
The Centers for Disease Control says every year 76-million people are infected with a food-borne illness. 325,000 of them go to the hospital. And 5,000 will die.
The House has already passed a food reform bill. And the Senate is expected to vote on its version the next couple months. The two bills would then be combined into one final bill.
If it passes, it would be the first major reform in 70 years.
Also, Kip wrote a book about their ordeal called "Second Chance. The Story of a Father's Faith, A Mother's Strength and a Child's Will to Live."
"I am using our second chance with Chance to go out and inform other parents," says Kip.
And now four years later, a boy once near death embraces life. And he lives up to his name.
