Kylie's Kid: Meet Maksim

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Food poisoning can knock you out for a few days, a week or even longer. But for some young kids it turns into something much more serious. That's what happened to 2-year-old Maksim Messerer last year.

"He's a rambunctious bundle of joy," Jeremiah Messerer, Maksim's dad, said.

Three days a week, for five hours at a time, a hospital bed is Maksim's play room.

"It's amazing how well he does sitting here in this bed," Rachael Messerer, Maksim's mom, said.

Maksim is receiving dialysis, which is a big upgrade from where he was just months ago. Late last year Maksim contracted E Coli.

"January and February were really rough," Jeremiah said. "He almost didn't survive."

What started as food poisoning quickly became life threatening. Maksim was in kidney failure.

"It was really hard because that day he went from being cognizant and awake to someone you wouldn't recognize," Jeremiah said. "Just the amount of tubes and hoses, and as a parent it's extremely hard. And it was like that for a month."

Maksim pulled through, but not without permanent damage.

"His colon had rotted away," Jeremiah said. "The disease had eaten his colon."

He lost 85 percent of his colon, suffered damage to his pancreas and now has Type 1 diabetes.

Despite everything, Maksim finds pieces of normal, like riding his bike and playing with his big brother.

"He loves playing with brother. They're two peas in a pod," Jeremiah said. "Despite all the perceived negatives, there's just so much we're thankful for and blessed that we still have Maksim," Jeremiah said.

Now Maksim is starting the process to get a kidney transplant.

If you would like to help the family with their medical expenses, visit his Go Fund Me page. To keep track of his progress, visit Maksim's Facebook page.