{"id":546296,"date":"2026-03-19T07:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546296\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T07:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:41:12","slug":"merritt-father-warns-others-after-medical-emergency-involving-his-young-son-okanagan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546296\/","title":{"rendered":"Merritt father warns others after medical emergency involving his young son – Okanagan"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Merritt, B.C., father is warning others about the danger of tick bites<\/a> \u00a0after a serious medical emergency involving his young son.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cSheer panic,\u201d is how Jamie Stevens describes the emotion he felt at the time.<\/p>\n

The Merritt boy woke up last Thursday morning unable to walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was falling. His legs weren\u2019t holding up his weight,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cLike he\u2019d try to stand up and then he\u2019d fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens says doctors at the local hospital couldn\u2019t determine a cause and referred him to a pediatrician.<\/p>\n

But when they got home, they discovered a large tick attached to the boy\u2019s scalp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty horrifying to see,\u201d Stevens said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a tick, like an engorged tick before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Stevens believes the tick latched onto his son during a recent short hike they did in a grassy area on a bluff near their home.<\/p>\n

While not common, experts say that certain tick species cause paralysis by releasing a neurotoxin into the bloodstream.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all ticks, for example, can carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease,\u201d said Jade Savage, a full professor at Bishop\u2019s University specializing in entomology.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent species can cause other problems, so tick paralysis, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

While most tick species become active as soon as the snow melts, experts say outdoor enthusiasts need to be tick aware year-round.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn British Columbia, people should be aware of ticks 12 months out of the year because different species of ticks are active at a different time of the year,\u201d Savage said. \u201cHowever, most species are quite resistant to the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

While tick bites can cause serious problems, there are ways to reduce the risks starting with knowing where ticks are usually lurking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you remain on gravel paths, if you stay away from vegetation, if you stay away from tall herbs \u2014 from forest edges, for example \u2014 then the ticks don\u2019t fall out of thin air,\u201d Savage said.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to be attached to plants. That\u2019s where most of them are.\u00a0 That is where they are waiting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4:11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCanada\u2019s tick population takes off\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Savage said another way to reduce the risk is by covering up with long sleeves and long pants and tucking socks into pant legs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

She added that using repellents, such as DEET, can also help.<\/p>\n

But Savage said regular tick checks are key, especially in the hard-to-see spots such as the scalp, hairline and behind the ears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that anyone that goes into any potential tick habitat should do every evening,\u201d Savage said.<\/p>\n

And whether using tweezers or a tick removal hook, Savage advises to never twist when pulling off an embedded tick.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might (break) the head off,\u201d Savage said. \u201cThat can leave the head and the skin, which could be uncomfortable but sometimes it can also lead the tick to regurgitate into the skin.\u201d<\/p>\n

After discovering the tick on Milo\u2019s scalp, the boy was brought back to hospital where Stevens says doctors used a topical type of cream to remove the insect.<\/p>\n

He said after about 24 hours, his son was almost back to his normal self.<\/p>\n

Despite the terrifying incident, Stevens says he and his children won\u2019t stop hiking but he added that they will be even more vigilant checking for ticks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, absolutely,\u201d he said. \u201cHe has two siblings that live here, too, so we\u2019ll all be doing it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5:14
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYour ultimate wellness guide to summer outdoor adventures\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Merritt, B.C., father is warning others about the danger of tick bites \u00a0after a serious medical emergency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,15222,2081,44,47591,6290],"class_list":["post-546296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-central-okanagan","tag-kelowna","tag-news","tag-tick-bites","tag-ticks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}