Necrotising Fasciitis or the flesh-eating bug infectious disease almost killed a woman.
52-year-old mother-of-two Laura Hayes-Meerman from Encinitas, California, was at a ski resort in Vermont when her dream holiday transformed into a nightmare.
She went to hospital complaining of severe shoulder pain which made the doctors diagnose her with a pulled muscle. In fact, a ‘flesh-eating bug’ that passed unobserved by the doctors was guilty of Laura’s pain.
The infection has already spread throughout Laura’s body’s right-side when her organism started to shut down, literally. She was unconscious for six weeks just to wake up to find her body full of scars. Doctors fulfilled 14 surgeries in order to save the woman’s life.
Unfortunately, the woman lost skin and muscles of the right side of her body, as they were affected by the infection and the doctors had to cut them off to stop the spread of the ‘flesh-eating bug’.
Even though she was shocked when she looked into a mirror, she thanked God for being alive and in one piece.
‘I am alive and I have all my limbs and I see that as extremely lucky’, said Laura.
Later, doctors explained to her that she contracted the infection after a cut on her right arm and that the ‘bug’ spread on the right-side of her body causing the necrosis of the tissues.
Necrotising Fasciitis is a flesh-eating disease that is usually contracted through a cut or burn and is manifested by red to purple skin, fever, severe pain, and nausea with or without vomiting.
The flesh-eating bug disease is the common name used when the Necrotising Fasciitis is caused by a bacteria such as the Staphylococcus Aureus.
Necrotizing Fasciitis may be cured by proper care of the wound but when the infection is already spread surgical removal of the affected tissue is the only solution.