“I’m grateful for life,” Dylan Riley says of his strep infection. “Things could be so different: my family could have planned a funeral”

Last October, Dylan Riley was playing frisbee golf with friends on a sunny afternoon in Oklahoma City. The disc went into the road and when he went to retrieve it, he tripped and cut his right knee.

“I’m a klutz,” said Riley, a 31-year-old who worked in construction and welding and hoped to enlist in the military.

Her mother Trina White, an infectious disease nurse, examined the cut and thought it looked good. There were no infections.

But nearly two weeks later, Riley woke up feeling like he had the flu. He was sweaty, had a fever and body aches – and he couldn’t stop throwing up. He took a hot bath thinking it might do him good. Once he got out of the bathtub, he couldn’t move. He screamed to call his roommate who called an ambulance.

He remembers the paramedics talking to him and asking him questions, but then he lost consciousness.

“Everything went black,” Riley said.

At Baptist Integris Hospital, he was diagnosed streptococcal toxic shock syndrome – a rare but very serious, potentially fatal infection.

“He arrived at our hospital seriously ill, practically on the verge of death,” explains his doctor. Dr. Bob Schoapsmedical director of specialized intensive care and acute mechanical circulatory support at Integras Health Incorporated.

Schoaps explains that streptococcusthe same bacteria that causes strep throat, had somehow gotten into Riley’s body. blood.

Related: 5-year-old girl dies after being misdiagnosed by doctors who said she had a cold

Riley’s organs began to shut down and her heart stopped beating. Twice, doctors had to resuscitate him.

“If Dylan had spent a few more hours at home, it’s very likely he wouldn’t have survived this,” Schoaps says. “When we see patients with the same level of disease as him, we estimate their chance of survival should be 10% or less.”

When Riley’s mother, White, arrived at the hospital, she remembers the staff asking her if she wanted her son to put him on life support.

“As a mother, it’s your worst nightmare,” she said. “I said, ‘Do what you have to do and save my son.’

Riley was placed on a veno-arterial ECMO machine to support heart and lung function. The machine kept him alive but did not circulate oxygenated blood to his extremities.

His limbs began to turn black – even the tips of his ears – because the tissue was dying without circulation. He was also on dialysis for his kidneys.

While Riley was unconscious, doctors told his family he might need amputations.

Riley says he doesn’t remember anything about the first five days in the hospital. It was only when the ECMO machine was removed that he regained consciousness.

“The first thing I remember is looking over and seeing my mother, then my father,” he says.

Seeing her divorced parents together, Riley knew something was seriously wrong. “They don’t want to share a room very often,” he says. “I was like, ‘Okay, what happened?’

His family and medical team explained to him that his body had gone into toxic shock and that he had almost died. As soon as he regained consciousness, his mother began preparing him for possible amputation.

She explained to Riley that although the machine had saved his life – and she was very grateful for it – the loss of tissue in his limbs was very serious and he might have to lose a limb.

“I told him that no matter what, we still loved him and nothing was going to change anything.”

White feared he had made the wrong decision in agreeing to put him on life support, knowing it could still result in the loss of a limb. “I was selfish. I wanted my son. I didn’t care what he looked like. I didn’t care what games we lost,” she says. “I was afraid he would be angry with me. I was afraid he would be upset at living a life so different from what he knew.”

But a few weeks later, his fears were allayed. “Riley told me, ‘Mom, it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that I’m still here,'” she recalls.

Never miss a story: subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In the meantime, he was experiencing many strange side effects. “My whole body peeled off, every moment, like a snake would,” he says. His taste buds had even peeled off his tongue – he didn’t want to eat anymore because the food no longer tasted good.

It took surgeons a few months to determine how much of his limbs they could save.

But Dylan’s humor has always been one of his main character traits. So when doctors told him his legs had to be amputated, he joked instead of being sad.

“I always try to see the positive in things,” he says. His friends and family cried, but he refused. “Seeing them cry, I’m like, ‘Don’t do it, because you’re going to make me cry.’ And so my first instinct is always to make them laugh, so I was sitting there making jokes about amputations.”

Related: Texas teacher loses arms and legs after sepsis ‘mummified’ her limbs

Her legs were amputated the week before Christmas 2023. He asked his mother to take a photo of his bandaged legs. “You could see they were cut,” he says. He posted a photo of his own amputation next to Shrek’s gingerbread man, who had his legs cut off. “I’ve always had a very dark sense of humor,” he says.

In January, parts of his hands were amputated.

On his right hand, he was able to keep his palm. On his left hand, surgeons were able to save part of his thumb, as well as part of his index and middle fingers. And fortunately, he says, parts of his hand have rejuvenated. “I can always pick up a pencil and write,” he says. “But I can’t hold power tools like I used to.”

On Friday May 17, 2024, he received prosthetic legs thanks to Members for life. On Monday, he began his rehabilitation, learning to handle steps and sidewalks. “I was sweating,” he said. “I wanted to go home early. I didn’t want to be one of those people who’s like, ‘Oh, I feel bad for myself.’ I wanted to prove people wrong.”

Related: Ohio Mom, 42, Had All 4 Limbs Amputated After Flu Leads to Bacterial Infection: ‘I Woke Up With No Arms or Legs’ (Exclusive)

A year later, Riley is determined to get his life back. He’s returning to some of his favorite pastimes, like bowling. “It’s not pretty,” he said, laughing. He also starts playing disc golf again with his friends.

Schoaps says Riley’s “persistent optimism” is one of the main reasons he’s doing so well. Riley visits other amputees in the hospital before they lose their limbs to give them hope.

“I can at least help them realize that this isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning of their new story,” he says. “You can go in one of two directions: you can move forward and excel, or you can sit and linger and take a step back.”

He also plans to give motivational speeches to local schoolchildren to teach them the importance of handling adversity and never giving up, no matter the challenge.

“I’m grateful for life,” he says. “Things could be so different. My family could have planned a funeral.