Emma Doherty has been permanently disfigured after contracting a rare ‘carnivorous disease’ called necrotizing fasciitis. In February 2021, Doherty complained of a sore leg and went to the hospital twice. She was diagnosed with an infection and put on antibiotics but they didn’t work and she was fighting for her life a few days later. Doherty was rushed to the hospital, and after she was diagnosed with sepsis—the body’s extreme response to an infection—doctors were left with no choice but to place her in an medically-induced coma. “I can’t remember anything to this day. I better not remember the pain or what happened, but it’s weird,” she told Newsweek.
Masks, towards the partial stop in hospitals from April 30: they remain in the RSA and in the emergency rooms. Schillaci signs the ordinance today
What is necrotizing fasciitis
After nine days in intensive care, Doherty’s condition rapidly worsened and doctors gave her a 0.2% chance of survival. The CDC explains that necrotizing fasciitis is a rare bacterial infection that spreads rapidly in the body and can cause death. It is treated with antibiotics and surgery. Since 2010, 700 to 1,150 cases have occurred in the United States each year. Newsweek reached out to emergency physician Ken Perry who explained that the bacteria can enter the body through a “benign and harmless type of cut or prick,” with the affected area quickly becoming very painful. “One of the interesting things about necrotizing fasciitis is that the area doesn’t always appear extremely infected. It is usually common to see a very red and inflamed area when the tissue is infected. In necrotizing fasciitis, the infection is deeper and not actually it can cause skin changes in the overlying tissue,” she said. Perry, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina, explains that the progression is “very rapid” through the connective tissues between the muscles. He told Newsweek: ‘It can start in one area and very quickly involve an entire extremity. Contrast that with an area of cellulitis, or abscess, which are more localized infections and take longer to spread to local tissue rather than under the skin. skin over the fascial planes (the connection areas between muscles.) It describes the condition as “life-altering” and in some cases “life-threatening.” The CDC says that even with treatment, up to one in five people with necrotizing fasciitis dies from the infection.
A widespread infection throughout the body
Doherty’s mom, Marie Keane, 54, spoke to Newsweek about her daughter’s condition. She said: ‘We were not allowed to see Emma physically, but the doctor showed me pictures and I will never forget those pictures. ‘They still haunt me to this day, the infection had spread all over her body and the his stomach was open. I could see her organs and her intestines. “Emma’s right leg had huge purple blisters and her left leg was black.” I can only compare her legs to pictures I’ve seen from the past of people who had the plague. “It was terrifying, but I refused to turn off the life support machine because I knew it was still there.” On the ninth day in intensive care, Keane signed a consent form to the amputation procedure and Doherty’s left leg was removed below the knee. She said: “The doctor promised that he would do the best he could to save her limbs, but there was talk at one point that she could end up with just her left arm. It was absolutely devastating.” In total, Doherty spent 39 days in a coma and underwent daily debridement, a wound healing procedure, to remove infected cells. Keane told Newsweek that she was “hit and run” every day, but she refused to give up and continued to pray for her daughter.