KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A local teenager thought he was being trendy when he pierced his lip. Now, he's in a hospital bed with an infection so bad, doctors say, it could kill him.

Zeke Wheeler, a 15-year-old freshman at Blue Springs High School, decided three weeks ago to pierce his own lip at home.

His mother, Jill Hanlin, said she found him as he was struggling to get the barbell to go all the way through his lip.

"He went to the medicine cabinet, got a needle and stuck it the rest of the way through without the needle being sterilized, of course," Hanlin said.

Within days, Wheeler became achy and developed sores on his feet and hands.

Doctors realized a staph infection had set in and spread Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus through his blood stream.

Dr. Robyn Livingston, director of Infection Control at Children's Mercy Hospital, said, "If MRSA gets into the blood stream, you're talking about infection on the heart, pneumonia, into the bone that may require surgical intervention."

Every part of Wheeler's body is now affected, Livingston said. He's had six blood transfusions and three knee and two hip surgeries.

"The true reality is he could end up in heaven," Wheeler's dad said.

Wheeler asked his parents to spread the message for him of what he has learned from his painful experience. He wants teens to understand the mistake he made by self-piercing without a sterile material.

Livingston said that the main point to remember is that your skin is your body's first line of defense against infections. Any time you cut it or put a hole in it, you put yourself at risk of a staph infection. If you are going to get a piercing, choose a professional with licensed sterilizing equipment for the job.