An Australian socialite named Stephenie Rodriguez has underwent 36 surgeries and had both feet amputated after being bitten by Mosquito while on business trip in Lagos, Nigeria.
Sharing her story, the socialite told the Sydney Morning Herald that she traveled to Lagos in 2019 after being invited to speak at a business event for travel executives.
Sadly, she was bitten three times on her left ankle by a mosquito when she was invited to take a picture shoot next to a puddle of stagnant water during the gathering.
Ms Rodriguez began to feel weak and exhausted days after going to India.
When she was sent to the hospital after struggling to eat and drink, her cerebral Malaria was diagnosed by an infectious diseases specialist.
Doctors gave her a 2% chance of survival after she was given Artesunate, a dr*g used to treat severe malaria.
In a last ditch effort to save her life doctors used vasopressor dr*gs to redirect blood flow from her limbs to her vital organs.
Stephenie Rodriguez said;
“It was the last trick in the bag, and they cautioned my family that if I survived, there would be collateral damage. The vasopressors robbed my feet and hands, the things furthest from my heart, of blood and like frostbite, the areas without blood and oxygen began to die.
The dr*gs caused necrosis on her feet and hands, and she saw her own toe fall off into her fingers at one point. After being transported back to Australia, doctors informed her that she would need an above-the-knee amputation as well as the amputation of numerous fingers.
“It was horrible, absolutely horrible. Completely unimaginable.”
Sickened by the possibility of losing her legs, she delayed the therapy, selecting rather to have repeated skin transplant and medical procedures to check whether her wellbeing would improve. Her remaining toes, notwithstanding, must be cut off sooner or later.
“It’s bizarre, but I had to cut my feet off to walk again,” she said.
The 52-year-old single mother who was restricted to a wheelchair and incapable to stand because of painful distress, went through major surgery to have the two feet removed and replaced with above-lower leg bilateral osseointegrated implants and mechanical feet.
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