Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOUTH OGDEN -- A South Ogden woman survived a nearly deadly fight with a flesh-eating bacteria. Now she's talking about it, in hopes of raising awareness.
Debbie Blackwell says she went to the doctor in March, after noticing pain under her left armpit and coming down with flu-like symptoms. A doctor first told her it likely was a virus and sent her home.
But the next morning, Blackwell became nearly unresponsive. Her husband Benny says he got a strong impression to take her to the emergency room at Ogden Regional Hospital. "She turned over and looked at me," he said, "And a voice was saying don't sit there and let her die."
When they got to the hospital, Blackwell says one doctor immediately recognized sepsis. Another doctor, who'd seen the bacteria before, immediately sent her into surgery.
"She stopped breathing in the ER," Benny Blackwell said. Then her internal organs began to fail. Blackwell was told that even after surgery his wife had only a 50-50 chance at survival. He was also told that had she arrived there 30 minutes later, she might have died.
The disease is called Necrotizing Fasciitis, a strep infection that usually finds its way underneath the skin through some kind of trauma or wound. It not only destroys soft tissue and muscle, it also creates a toxin in the body. Debbie, who has multiple sclerosis, says doctors still don't know how it happened in her case. They're not sure if the MS had anything to do with it.
She has very little recollection of what happened that night. She has no recollection of the eight days that followed. All she can remember is slowly waking up and seeing her husband with tears in his eyes. "I asked what's wrong?" she said.
Blackwell spent several days in the hospital and several more at the University of Utah's burn unit undergoing wound care. She's still undergoing rehab to recover from the effects of the bacteria and medical procedures.
Besides being grateful for the gift of life and thankful for their religious convictions that they feel carried them through, the Blackwells hope their story helps others.
If people experience "disproportional" pain in an extremity and have flu-like symptoms that accompany it, Benny Blackwell has some advice: "Be firm with your doctor." Blackwell says he was told that a third of the people who get the disease die and most of them die at home after they've sought some kind of medical attention.
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
