Blood poisoning turned his limbs, nose and ears black. Now 4-year-old Evan’s fighting for his life

It all happened so fast. Just last Saturday, Evan Shishakly was laughing and happy.

On Sunday, he developed flu-like symptoms — by Monday, he was being airlifted to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver with his hands and face turning black.

Now the four-year-old from Westbank is in a fight for his life as he battles a potentially deadly blood infection.

“I was scared. Extremely angry. I was broken,” his mother Katie told Global News of the flight to Vancouver. “I’m heartbroken for my son. If I could take his place right now, I would do it with no hesitation.”

Evan is now in intensive care, in critical condition with septicemia. It’s an infection of the bloodstream that can travel to different organs, and is brought on by the Streptococcus bacteria.

Doctors have told Evan’s family they will likely have to amputate his right hand, and possibly the fingers on his left. The blackish patches have cropped up on his knees, legs, nose and ears.

WATCH: B.C. family seeks crowdfunding support as child fights for his life

0:53 B.C. family seeks crowdfunding support as child fights for his life

“It’s called mummifying in some parts, it means there’s no blood or anything like that in those parts of his body anymore,” Katie said.

“His fingertips have turned hard… you feel like if you push it too hard it will just turn into dust and fly away.”

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Doctors have been using a special cream on other parts of Evan’s body to fight the infection, and have made some progress on his face. But Katie said her son remains in constant pain.

Katie said Evan’s stepdad Joe has been by her side the entire time, and that the two have been supporting each other in the face of the illness.

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And she believes her son will pull through, despite the prognosis.

“At this point all I can be thankful for is that my son is alive, and if we get to go home and he doesn’t have a hand, that doesn’t even matter, right?” she said.

“I just get to take my child home, that’s the best part. Hand-less or not. He gets to — eventually, possibly, you know — gets to live his life.”

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Doctors are now working to find out whether Evan has a compromised immune system that made him more susceptible to the infection; Katie said other people who contracted it may have only felt flu-like symptoms.

If the doctors are able to beat the infection, Evan will still require extensive physiotherapy, and Katie said he’s likely to be on painkillers and antibiotics for the rest of his life.

But she said progress in prosthetics has left her hopeful he can still lead a normal life.

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By Friday evening, an online fundraiser for Evan and his family had raised more than $6,000 from dozens of supporters, many of whom have posted messages of support.

“Spartan Strong little Dude,” wrote another.

Along with her partner, Katie said those messages were helping her stay strong.

“From my whole heart I am just so grateful for all the people who have been sending us good thoughts and love and support, and the prayers and the donations,” she said. “All of these strangers that are just rooting for Evan, it’s absolutely amazing.”