When this teen girl felt a small pain in her stomach, she found herself getting rushed to the hospital. She didn’t expect to find a fatal condition taking over her body. Doctors were amazed, confused, and terrified for the girl. Find out what went down by reading on…
Atlanta McBride
In Halifax, West Yorkshire, 14-year-old Atlanta McBride noticed that she wasn’t feeling good. In fact, she felt an abrupt but subtle pain cover her abdomen, like a stomachache but so much worse. She was taken to the hospital…
Hospital Visit
After meeting with doctors, they determined that it was just nerves. Years later, they’d discover it was a burst appendix. Sadly, by the time she was 18, it would be too late to save her completely…
Untreated
The doctors sent her away without treating her for the burst appendix. From there, something festered in her organs. Leaving her without care was a grave mistake…
Rushed to ER
She rushed back to the ER again, where doctors found her intestines matted and mutated with gangrene. Her insides were turning black, and they didn’t have much time left. They had to make some fast choices…
Down the Drain
The only way to expel the toxic disease was to drain Atlanta’s stomach. Doctors got to work right away. It had already spread to her bowels and was getting worse every minute…
Some Complications
When the stomach was fully drained, the doctors realized that the poison was still in her stomach. They would need to take more drastic measures to save her. It was time to make another cut…
Rejecting Help
Her body was refusing the disease as best it could, but the method was painful. She began to force the poison out of the 5-inch scar on her stomach. Her body was not doing well, and neither was her mind…
Taking the Hit
Atlanta said that her confidence plummeted during this time. She was sick and lying in bed when normally she’d be going to classes at the University of Huddersfield. But what would come of her?
Cutting It Close
The doctors knew that the disease was eating her alive. They decided to make another cut into her stomach. This required more of a plan going forward…
Lucky to Be Alive
“The surgeon had told my mum I was very lucky,” Atlanta told reporters, “Because if they had postponed my operation to the next morning as they had planned, I would have died from poisoning.” There were two hours separating her from life and death…
Daily Assistance
Every day, the nurses came into Atlanta’s room and treated the infected wounds through the larger and smaller incisions. Her life took a backseat while she got better…
Taking Her Time
It took about 6 weeks for Atlanta to be completely healed of gangrene. Nurses visited her every day to treat the infection, but that wasn’t the end of it. Her recovery would last much longer…
Getting Better
Atlanta was restricted from physical activities for a year and took three separate antibiotics while she got better. Her scar would be with her forever, as would other parts of her detrimental disease…
Hip Dip
“When it healed over I had a large dip where there was no muscle left where the hole had been,” Atlanta said. But she didn’t let her insecurities slow her down…
Beauty Queen
She decided to start doing beauty pageants to combat these body image issues started by her scars. She knew that if she could should her cuts on stage, she could show them anywhere. But it wasn’t easy…
Stage Right
“At first I thought the scar was going to affect me” she recounted, “But the buzz of being onstage was far stronger than worrying about what people were thinking about my scar.” She had the time of her life on stage…
Success Story
Atlanta became a huge success is the modeling circuit. She won two local shows, becoming Miss Elegance and Miss Yorkshire Galaxy. She also was the runner up for Miss UK Beautiful and won Miss Eco UK. She learned a lot…
Happiness First
“We all have something we are not happy with and would like to change,” Atlanta says, “But beauty comes from the inside and that reflects true beauty. It’s not everything to be beautiful on the outside if you don’t have a beautiful person within.” Not everyone was so lucky…
Small Cut
Mrs. Zhang was working around her house when she noticed a drop of blood on the counter. She was worried and horrified at the sight, but relaxed when she realized it was coming from a small paper cut on her hand. She had no idea what was to come…
Home Life
Mrs. Zhang was fifty-three at the time of the incident, living in Wuhan, China. The cut hurt a little, but nothing she couldn’t deal with. She decided not to treat it…
Days Pass
The cut didn’t grow any bigger, but it did get more disgusting. The cut started to become black. Was it a bruise or something worse? Time would tell her everything…
Disease Spreads
The rest of her fingers slowly started turning black. Soon, it became too gross to look at, and she knew she had to visit the emergency room. Doctors were amazed…
Gangrene Diagnosis
Eventually, Mrs. Zhang was diagnosed with a blood disease known as gangrene. That was the reason her fingers started turning black, but how? And why?
Getting Gangrene
Gangrene is caused by a restriction on blood in the body. This can be an infection and risk can increase if you have diabetes, atherosclerosis, arterial disease, serious injury, obesity, or a weak immune system. But what did Mrs. Zhang have?
Gangrene Types
There are two main types of gangrene. Sufferers can contract “dry gangrene” or “wet gangrene” though they are very different. Mrs. Zhang needed a more specific diagnosis…
Wet Gangrene
One type, wet gangrene, involves infection. Tissues swell and blister making it appear wet. This is a life-threatening condition and very serious, but thankfully, not applicable to Mrs. Zhang…
Dry Gangrene
Mrs. Zhang was diagnosed with dry gangrene. This is because dry gangrene is restricted to the hands and feet. Even though this type is less dangerous, it could eventually lead to something worse…
Totally Numb
Mrs. Zhang recalls feeling totally numb at the time of diagnosis, unable to feel anything in her hand. She was beginning to get nervous, and she had a good reason to be…
Eight Fingers Gone
The gangrene affected eight of her fingers, causing them to become black and numb. She described them as looking like twigs. Hopefully, she would be okay…
Amputation
If the disease goes on for too long, the infected patient might have to get their limbs amputated to stop the spread. Mrs. Zhang was safe from this treatment, but others aren’t;t so lucky. That being said, she’s safe for now…