West Olive teen dies after mysterious illness
Updated: June 7, 2006 06:28 PM
WEST OLIVE -- Health officials are searching for what caused a teen in West Olive to die a week after developing flu-like symptoms. 16-year-old Caleb Vannette died Saturday at Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus, two days after transferring there from Zeeland Community Hospital.
Doctors think it was some type of blood infection said family friend, Aaron Vonk. He also said that doctors looked at septicemia and meningitis as possibilities.
Ottawa County Health Officer Lisa Stefanovsky confirmed that health officials were investigating a possible case of meningitis but would not identify the victim. She said the public should not be worried.
Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Viral meningeal infections are not as dangerous as the bacterial type. Caleb started showing flu-like symptoms roughly 10 days ago. On Thursday he had problems breathing, "He was a healthy kid," Vonk said. "It was something that caught us all off-guard."
Caleb was the oldest of 6 siblings, all of which are home-schooled. He is survived by his parents Jonathan and Deborah and his brothers and sisters ages 14, 12, 10, 8 and 6. Faith was an important part of Caleb's life. He attended Reformed Baptist Church of Holland, where his father is a lay pastor.
"Faith is something that drives Jonathan, and you could see it driving Caleb in the last few years," said Vonk, a member of the same church. Everyone who knew Caleb was devastated, including church members and those at CDR. Caleb's grandmother, Helen Mink, said faith is helping the family cope. "That's the only thing getting them through this," she said.
Funeral services were Wednesday at Reformed Baptist Church of Holland.
Caleb was described as young man who worked on Saturdays with his father at his equipment rental business. He also volunteered and trained with the Michigan Civil Air Patrol out of Muskegon, which is an auxiliary of the US Air Force helping with search and rescue operations.
Vonk said Caleb talked about going into law enforcement or the Air Force. "I think he would have loved to fly," he said. "He was something of an airplane buff."
"It struck us unbelievably hard," he said.
