Jongh Eglin’s Tracy says she “feels lucky to be alive” after flesh-eating bacteria left a 20cm wound on one of her buttocks.
- In January 2023, Tracy de Jongh Eglin experienced flu-like symptoms. But her condition quickly deteriorated and she had to be hospitalized.
- The patient suffered from necrotizing fascist, also called flesh-eating bacteria.
- After a long recovery, she will need a colostomy bag for life. She also has a 20 cm wound on her left buttock.
In January 2023, Tracy from Jongh Eglina Scottish woman who lives in the Netherlands, started having flu symptoms. Although her condition did not alert her at the time, five days later, she had to be rushed to hospital because she was in septic shock.
When the 59-year-old woman arrived, doctors discovered a black mass on her left buttock. The diagnosis quickly came: Necrotizing fasciitis, a rare soft tissue infection also known as flesh-eating disease.
Necrotizing fasciitis: “It looks like a peach that someone has bitten“
During this very serious infection, Tracy from Jongh Eglin spent 9 days in a coma. Doctors attempted to save his life by scheduling 3 surgeries to remove tissue and muscles affected by necrotizing fasciitis. Medical professionals had warned her family that she had only a 10% chance of survival.
“My family was told to prepare for the worst: They didn’t think I would make it.”remembered patient interviewed by the English press. “I spent nine days in a coma and when I finally regained consciousness, I was incredibly disoriented and continued to hallucinate.“Among other things, she was convinced that she was 17 and that she was staying in a five-star hotel. By then she had also forgotten how to speak Dutch.
“I woke up with a catheter, a stoma and a 20 centimeter deep wound (at the level of the left buttock)“, she added.
That “looks like a peach that someone has bitten off a lot on one side”, lamented Tracy Jongh Eglin.
Doctors were unable to identify the cause of the infection. They explained to the patient that this type of disease – although rare – could sometimes start from something as trivial as an ingrown hair or an undisinfected scratch.
Flesh-eating infection: ‘I was completely broken’
In total, Tracy from Jongh Eglin was hospitalized for six weeks. But then she faced a very long recovery period. Transferred to a rehabilitation center, she of follow physiotherapy, psychotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy sessions for several weeks.
“I was completely broken and had to rebuild my life. I was so weak, my voice changed and I had to learn to walk again.”explained the woman. If her catheter was able to be removed after eight months, she will now need a colostomy bag for life.
She admits that the physical recovery was painful, but it was on the psychological level that it was the most complicated. “The only good thing that has come out of all this is that I feel closer to my husband than ever.”she exclaimed. “It’s like we’ve fallen in love all over again: our relationship has improved significantly.“
The Dutch resident is now sharing her story in the press to raise awareness among the general public of the danger of necrotizing fasciitis. She calls on people to seek medical care quickly if their flu symptoms worsen or persist. “Without my husband’s quick thinking and the quickness of the doctors and ambulance services, I wouldn’t be here”she stressed.
