19 March 2024 , 06:16
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A seven-year-old girl has had several limbs amputated in the last two weeks after contracting a horrifying bacterial disease.
Victoria Pasten-Morales was diagnosed with Group A Streptococcus before she had to undergo eight surgeries. The bacterial infection lowered her immune system, causing her to be susceptible to other diseases. The illness started with fever and vomitting, and eventually her lips and hands turned blue. Her parents rushed her to the hospital, but the disease quickly spun out of control. Doctors had to amputate a hand and both of her feet.
The family has started a GoFundMe to help cope with rising medical expenses and for her future care, as the girl will likely require strenuous medical intervention, prosthetics, and other long-term care. They've raised $26,000 so far. Additionally, her kidneys were affected and she now requires a ventilator. She can't talk but can move her face and head, and was reportedly blowing kisses to the staff, despite her grim condition.
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Victoria Pasten-Morales and her father pictured here (Victor Pasten)“Everything happened very fast. It occurred very fast. We don’t know where it came from, but it all happened in less than 12 hours,” mother Obdulia Morales told Fox 10 in Phoenix.
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“Diseases come unexpectedly,” Victor Pasten additionally said in Spanish. “From morning to night, everything can change in just one second. Unfortunately, they had to amputate both feet and her right hand. Her left hand is still recovering,” Pasten told the station on Sunday.
The girl's parents are devastated and say that the illness set in quickly (Fox 10)Her parents, who have three other children, are devastated at their daughter's condition. They also can't explain how she caught the infection, considering no one else in her family or her class at school is affected.
"It's not going to be easy for her. It's going to be hard but, she's strong. She's a warrior," mom, Obdulia said.
The infection she caught causes sepsis, or blood poisoning. The CDC explains, "Sepsis is the body's extreme response to an infection. It is a life-threatening medical emergency. Sepsis happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. Most cases of sepsis start before a patient goes to the hospital."
Sepsis often leads to organ failure, like in Victoria's case. In the US, 1.7 million people develop sepsis every year.