Henry Roque told NBC's Today Show his son's troubles began after finding a sick bat, which he placed in a bucket outside his home.
"(I) found a bat, put it in a little bucket, put it on the porch and I had asked my son, 'don't touch it under any circumstances'," the grieving father recalled.
"So, apparently he put his hand in there and touched it and he said it only scratched him, so I frantically googled it real quick and it says to wash his hands with soap, hot water for five minutes."
Roque said he and his wife knew they should have taken their son to seek immediate medical attention, but they were swayed when he began to cry at the prospect of getting shots.