I survived flesh-eating bug to land dream job
AN EDGE HILL University student who was lucky to survive a “flesh-eating bug” has secured her dream job.
Donna Cox became seriously ill and almost lost her leg after a mosquito bite became infected with necrotising fasciitis on a trip to Asia.
The 22-year-old was travelling around Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand to celebrate completing her masters in sport, physical activity and mental health but had to cut her trip short after becoming unwell.
Doctors told her that if she had visited A&E just four hours later she probably would not have survived and warned that after three operations on her leg she would struggle to walk again.
But Donna, from Rochdale, defied the odds and managed to walk across the stage with crutches at her graduation ceremony in December – and she has now secured her dream job.
She had planned to travel back to Australia following graduation but instead spent five weeks recovering in hospital undergoing intensive physiotherapy.
Staying at home enabled her to start looking for work and she has now secured a job as a mental health nursing associate.
Donna is using her harrowing ordeal to raise awareness of the symptoms of necrotising fasciitis which include: intense pain that is out of proportion to any damage to the skin, followed by swelling and redness; a high temperature and other flu-like symptoms which may develop into diarrhoea and vomiting; and dark blotches on the skin that turn into fluid-filled blisters.
Donna said: “A lot of students go travelling and I just want to do whatever I can to make sure people are aware of this infection and know what to look out for.
“I was doing everything you should to avoid mosquito bites, like covering up and wearing spray, but I was still getting bitten way more than anyone else I was with.
“Then this one bite became so painful that I couldn’t stand or walk properly.
“I had to get a boat back to the mainland to go to a pharmacy but the pain carried on getting worse so I ended up booking a flight home.”
She intended to book a doctor’s appointment but after speaking to an NHS out of hours service she went to Rochdale Infirmary A&E.
“By this point I was in excruciating pain and I was admitted and kept in overnight,” she said. “They ended up rushing me by ambulance to the infectious diseases department at North Manchester General Hospital.
“I remember having to sign something giving them permission to amputate; I was so poorly I couldn’t get out of bed.
“This was only a week after I got the bite.”
Donna underwent three operations to remove infected tissue and is still undergoing physiotherapy to learn to walk again.
Her age and physical fitness were key to her survival and she acknowledged she will now need mental strength to take on the intensive physiotherapy needed to enable her to start her new job in March.
She said: “I’m so grateful that I’m still alive and I’ve still got my leg.
“I’m planning to go back to Rochdale A&E to find the doctor who saw me.
“I want to thank her, she had an instinct about what was wrong and she acted on it.
“Without her I wouldn’t be here.
“And now I’ve got this job I almost feel like it was all meant to be.”