A beautiful and young Australian woman lost her legs and fingers to meningococcal disease thought she was just catching a cold.
According to China Press, Juttima Chinnasri, 28, went to bed early one night in October 2019, thought her feverish was a sign on an oncoming flu.
When she woke up the next morning, she was covered in blotchy, dark rashes and was rushed to hospital. She was very, very sick and tested positive with meningococcal B.
She was in a coma right after the test and hospital staff worked desperately to save her life.
When she woke up a week later, her fingers and toes all turned black and she was told her fingers and legs had to be amputated.
‘I hoped there was another way out so I did not have to lose my legs and hands.’
She would spend the next three months in hospital, learning to live without her extremities. Wheelchair-bound, she has since returned to her parent’s home in south Sydney.
Despite not being able to walk, she says she still considers herself very lucky.
“I just try and think I am lucky I’m still here, it could have been way worse,” she said.
One in every ten people who are diagnosed with meningococcal B – the most common of the five strains of the disease – die.
Meningococcal Australia’s Eliza Ault-Connell previously told Daily Mail Australia timing is key when it comes to surviving meningococcal disease.
“We’ve seen people at breakfast be dead by dinner, you literally see rashes develop before their eyes.”
Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that can cause death within hours if not recognised and treated in time. Although the majority of victims will recover fully, 10% of those infected will die, and around 20% will have permanent disabilities.
Info via China Press