A young woman’s dream trip to Paris ended with her fighting for her life after a heat rash on her thigh became infected with a flesh-eating bug.
Sydney Shipley, 21, from Williamstown, New Jersey, was hours away from losing her leg when she underwent emergency surgery to remove a hunk of diseased tissue on her thigh.
The bank cashier’s nightmare unfurled in August during her trip to the French capital with her then-boyfriend and his mom, which was her first time leaving the Unites States.
Nightmare: Sydney Shipley developed a heat rash on her inner thigh that developed into a flesh-eating bug while touring Paris with her then-boyfriend and his mom in August
Painful: Sydney assumed the rash was nothing out of the ordinary, but over the course of three days it started burn and spread until she could no longer walk
As the tourists traipsed around the city sightseeing in the summer heat, Sydney said her legs were chafing and she developed a red rash on her inner thighs.
She assumed it was nothing out of the ordinary and that night, she rubbed and picked at a pimple that had formed on it before going to sleep and thinking nothing else of it.
But over the next three days the red patch began to burn, became puffy, and started to spread until it covered most of her inner thigh and she could not walk – only waddle.
By the end of her summer holiday Sydney was vomiting, had a fever, and was unable to put any weight on her leg, which had swollen to twice its regular size.
Recovery: When she arrived back in the US, she was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery
Result: By the time she got in the operating room the tissue had died, and doctors ended up removing a huge, teardrop-shaped chunk of flesh
She was wheeled onto the plane home and the moment she landed back in the US, rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with ‘flesh-eating bug’ necrotizing fasciitis.
‘I was in agony. It was a sharp, stabbing, burning pain and I literally felt it to my bones,’ she said.
‘All the doctors and nurses that came into the room were in shock and covered their mouths. They kept saying, ‘We are running out of time.’
‘It was very scary but all I knew was that I needed it to be over. If they had to cut my leg off I was ready for that to be done,’ she explained.
Close call: Sydney’s thigh is pictured one week after her emergency surgery. Doctors told her she would have lost her leg if she waited a few hours longer
Keeping covered: Syndey admits didn’t look at her thigh until almost two months after the surgery. Her leg is pictured one month after the surgery
Hard to believe: ‘I had heard of the flesh-eating disease and seen it on the TV but I never thought I would get it,’ she said. Her thigh is pictured one month after her emergency surgery
‘By the time I got in the operating room the tissue had died, and they ended up removing a huge, teardrop-shaped chunk of flesh.
‘The doctors said if I had waited a few hours longer I would have lost my leg and if I’d waited another day I probably would have died.’
Sydney spent four days in intensive care at Virtua Hospital in New Jersey before being moved to the pulmonary unit for three days as she was suffering respiratory failure.
She was discharged after a week of being pumped with fluid and antibiotics and spent the following month on bed-rest, with nurses visiting every other day to re-dress the gaping wound.
Next step: In October she had a skin graft using bio-engineered skin which left her with a permanent scar
Unsightly: Her wound is pictured one week after she had her skin graft surgery
Theory: Although no one knows for sure, Doctors believe the necrotizing fasciitis got into her rash after she touched something with her hands and then touched her thigh
She admits she didn’t look at her thigh until almost two months after the surgery for fear of being grossed out and said: ‘I couldn’t believe it was my leg.’
In October she had a skin graft using bio-engineered skin which left her with a permanent scar, but she credits the ordeal with changing her outlook on life.
Now Sydney, who is no longer with the boyfriend she went to Paris with, wants to spread the word about necrotizing fasciitis and shared a warning not to pick rashes.
‘When the trip was coming up I was so excited but really nervous because of all the terrorist attacks. Then this happened,’ she said.
Finally healing: Sydney’s thigh is pictured one month after she had her skin graft
New outlook on life: ‘I wouldn’t wish the pain on my worst enemy, but I feel so lucky to have survived,’ she said. Sydney’s thigh is pictured now
‘I had heard of the flesh-eating disease and seen it on the TV but I never thought I would get it.
‘Doctors think the necrotizing fasciitis got into my rash after I touched something with my hands and then touched my thigh, but no one knows for sure.
‘We’re months down the line now and I’m still dealing with it,’ she added. ‘I wouldn’t wish the pain on my worst enemy, but I feel so lucky to have survived.
‘I want to tell people not to pick their rashes and if you have any sign of an infection, go to a doctor or urgent care if you feel it might be more serious.
‘If you don’t, you could end up losing a limb or your life. It’s not worth the wait.’