Mother Of NJ Man Who Died From Brain Amoeba Sues Park: Reports

VENTOR, N.J. — The mother of a New Jersey man who died of a rare brain-eating amoeba after visiting a Texas surf park filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the water park, according to reports.

Fabrizio Satbile, 29, of Ventnor, died Sept. 21 after he was diagnosed with the brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, a rare infection that has been diagnosed 143 times in the United States in the last 55 years, according to a GoFundMe page set up for him. The amoeba is usually found in freshwater.

His mother, Rita Stable, filed a lawsuit against the Texas company, Parsons Barefoot Ski Ranch (BSR), seeking more than $1 million in damages, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Rita Stabile filed the lawsuit April 9 in McLennan County District Court, according to the Chronicle. The lawsuit states BSR could have prevented her son's death "had they exercised ordinary care in the operation of their water park."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Texas authorities found evidence of the amoeba at the BSR Cable Park in Waco, where Stabile had been prior to his diagnosis. Stabile had been in the wave pool.

The CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services found evidence of Naegleria fowleri in the park but not specifically in the Surf Resort, Lazy River or the Royal Flush on the day of sampling. The presence of "fecal indicator" organisms, high turbidity, low free chlorine levels and other amoeba that occur along with Naegleria fowleri, however, indicate conditions favorable for amoeba growth.

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District said that the amoeba wasn't detected at the establishment's Surf Report, Lazy River or Royal Flush, according to the AP. But they stated the water at those attractions was very cloudy, had organisms that indicated the presences of feces, had low chlorine levels and conditions favorable for Naegleria fowleri growth, the AP reports.

The CDC said only four of the 143 people known to have been infected in the U.S. between 1962 and 2017 have survived, according to the Associated Press.

Read more: New Details Emerge On NJ Man Who Died Of Brain-Eating Amoeba

Stabile had been at a wave pool BSR Cable Park in Waco prior to suffering from a headache while mowing his lawn on Sept. 16. That day, he went to lie down, according to his GoFundMe page. Several days later, Sept. 21, he was pronounced dead at Atlantic City Medical Center.

At first, Stabile's symptoms – brain swelling and fever – appeared consistent with bacterial meningitis, and he was quickly sedated and treated with medication and an aggressive neurological protocol, according to the GoFundMe page.

Then, on Sept. 20, one of the test results came back positive. As family and friends huddled in the ICU waiting room, they learned that Stabile tested positive for the amoeba.

Stabile died on Sept. 21 at the Atlantic City Medical Center while surrounded by friends and family, according to his obituary from Lowenstein-Saraceno Funeral Home.

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