Deadly Flesh-Eating Bug 'from a mosquito bite'

A woman was forced to have her leg amputated at the hip to save her life, after a flesh-eating bug ravaged her body

Jodie Francis, of Edison, New Jersey, was taking down Halloween decorations in late 2012 when she began getting pains in her left leg.

As she climbed down a ladder, it felt like she had 'badly pulled a muscle', but a few days later she couldn't walk and was sent home from work.

The following day she had a raging fever and was in agonising pain, until eventually, she realised she needed to go to hospital.

A rash swept over her body until there was barely any unaffected skin left, and her blood pressure dropped dangerously low.

The 44-year-old was rushed to surgery, where doctors discovered she had necrotising fasciitis, a deadly infection that eats away at the body's flesh.

She believes the initial infection could have been triggered by a mosquito bite. 

In order to save her life as her organs were shutting down, doctors put her into an induced coma, and were forced to amputate her leg above the hip.

Now, nearly three years later, she says despite not having a leg - she says she 'finally feels whole'.

This is because she has accepted herself without a leg, and because the ordeal meant she grew as a person and now takes on challenges she would never have considered before.

Mrs Francis began suffering leg pains a few days after Hurricane Sandy hit.

'I was up and down my ladder getting down the Halloween décor, cleaning the gutter and bagging all of the pine needles and I started getting pains in my left leg, like I'd badly pulled a muscle,' she said.

It got so bad that a few days later she could not walk, and her boss at the events management company where she worked sent her home.

Mrs Francis continued: 'The following day I spiked a really high temperature. I couldn't sleep, eat, or even find a position which lessened the pain.

'By the time my husband Henry, now 43, came home at 11.30pm, I said "I feel horrible. I think I need to go to hospital".

'My niece Brianna and nephew Joey were staying with us at the time – we had power and they didn't due to the storm – so Henry stayed with them.'

Mrs Francis was taken to Robert Wood Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Hours later, a rash started developing.

'Suddenly I looked down at my arms and they were covered in hives,' she said. 'I mean, hives on hives – I couldn't see any unaffected skin.

'The last thing I remember was doctors saying my blood pressure had dropped dangerously low.

 Source:dailymail

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