A bacterial infection caused an 80 percent of a young British boy’s skin to shed, leaving open sores. More than a year later, the three year old has recovered, but his parents fear the scary occurrence could happen again, news.com.au reported.

At first, Eddie Sorenson’s parents were told their son had acute tonsillitis and were given a prescription for antibiotics. That night, when mom Corinne, 36, changed Eddie’s diaper, his skin began to fall away from his groin area.

“I was petrified when his skin just began to shed. I knew he didn’t have tonsillitis because he still wanted to eat and drink, but this was like nothing I’d ever seen before,” she told news.com.au.

The family returned to the hospital, where Eddie was diagnosed with staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS) caused by bacteria that may have entered through a small scratch under Eddie’s eye.

Within an hour, he was covered in more welts on his stomach and neck— his reaction to the virus was particularly strong.

“No one had seen a case like it before. Lots of doctors and nurses were coming in to have a look at him. Eddie looked like a burn victim and more lesions carried on appearing,” Corinne told news.com.au.

Eddie’s condition continued to deteriorate over the next three days, leading him to losing skin from his face, as well as his body. A burn specialist recommended using 50/50, a treatment cream similar to petroleum jelly. The cream, in combination with antibiotics, helped Eddie begin to heal quickly. Seven days after entering the hospital, Eddie skin was free of sores and he was allowed to go home.

“He still had lots of flaky skin, but we left that afternoon and were so happy to get back to normality. Eddie’s hands and feet were the last areas to peel and the skin of his hands came away like gloves the next day, but I knew we didn’t have anything to worry about,” Corinne told news.com.au.

The boy’s skin fully healed, without leaving any scars, but his parents worry the infection may recur if he gets another cut.