A MUM-OF-THREE almost died after a flesh-eating infection ravished her body.
Carolyn Gower, 62, from Ballarat, Australia, believed she was coming down with a tummy bug but woke up weeks later in hospital surrounded by her kids, who had been told to expect the worst.
Carolyn had contracted necrotising fasciitis – a rare condition that causes bacteria to release toxins, causing the skin to die.
Thankfully, after 15 operations, and relearning how to eat, walk and talk, Carolyn survived. But a year on, is still recovering from her traumatic ordeal.
Now, Carolyn, who is scarred for life, is sharing her story to raise awareness of necrotising fasciitis and warn others of its symptoms.
The grief coach and podcaster says: “This has been one of the most challenging and traumatic times in my life.
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“If it wasn’t for my children that day, I wouldn’t have survived.
“Life is so precious, and I will never take anything for granted again.”
In March last year, Carolyn woke up with no energy and felt nauseous. Thinking she had a tummy bug, she decided to rest in bed.
Carolyn explains: “That afternoon, I felt really hot and thirsty.
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“I got out of bed to get a drink, but as I walked back along the hallway towards my bedroom, everything went black.”
A month later, Carolyn woke up surrounded by nurses and her three children, Dylan, 36, Kayla, 33 and Matt, 30.
Carolyn remembers: “I was so confused, and my body felt paralysed.”
Carolyn’s children told her that, on the day she fell ill, they’d been trying to contact her and, worried, they went to her house.
There, they found her in bed delirious and burning up, with a red chest that looked like sunburn and was painful to touch.
After calling an ambulance, paramedics rushed Carolyn to Ballarat Hospital with suspected sepsis, but then her kidneys started failing.
Three days later, Carolyn was transferred to the Burns Unit at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.
Doctors diagnosed her with necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating infection which had eaten away at the muscles in her chest, neck and shoulder.
Although often contracted through a break in the skin, doctors were unable to find a cause.
‘My children said their goodbyes’
Carolyn says: “I was told that I’d been in an induced coma for a month and had 13 debridement operations to clean the dead tissue and rebuild my missing flesh.
“My children even had to say their goodbyes as my chances of survival were slim.
“I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe it.”
Thankfully, antibiotics cleared the infection, but Carolyn had to relearn how to eat, walk and talk again.
In the following weeks, she transitioned from a frame to a walker, until she could take steps with the help of a walking stick.
At the end of April, Carolyn underwent two skin graft surgeries, where surgeons took skin from her left thigh and placed it onto her chest area.
In May, after two months in hospital, she was finally discharged.
But Carolyn’s recovery wasn’t over, and she endured rehab most days to work on her balance and improve her walking.
She also saw a speech therapist, due to the effect that the coma had on her speech.
Now, a year on, Carolyn is yet to fully return to work. She is still undergoing regular physio and is expected to have further surgeries in the future.
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Carolyn says: “It’s hard to look at the scars that I’ve been left with, but they just remind me of what I’ve survived.
“I’m so grateful to my children who found me that day. I’m sure I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for them.”
What is necrotising fasciitis?
Necrotising fasciitis, also called the “flesh-eating disease”, is a rare and life-threatening infection.
It can happen when bacteria enters the body through an open wound, like a cut or burn.
The infection spreads quickly and aggressively, causes tissue death and can be deadly if not treated right away.
The signs and symptoms to know:
Symptoms of necrotising fasciitis can develop quickly within hours or over a few days.
At first, you may have:
- Intense pain or loss of feeling near to a cut or wound – the pain may seem much worse than you would usually expect from a cut or wound
- Swelling of the skin around the affected area
- Flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, headache and tiredness
Later symptoms can include:
- Being sick (vomiting) and diarrhoea
- Confusion
- Black, purple or grey blotches and blisters on the skin (these may be less obvious on black or brown skin)
Typical treatment:
Necrotising fasciitis gets worse very quickly and can kill.
This is why it must be treated in hospital as soon as possible.
Sufferers will usually be given antibiotics to fight off the infection or in some cases, surgery to remove the affected area
Even after successful treatment, there may be long-term changes in how the body looks. Some people require further surgery and physiotherapy to help recover.
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Vanessa Chalmers
