Mosquito Bite Almost Cost Woman Her Breast

Natalie Thomason got a mosquito bite on her breast when she was vacationing with her daughter in Egypt and didn’t think anything of it. The seemingly harmless bite, however, almost cost the woman her breast.

After she noticed the bite blistered, she decided to swim in the sea to make it go down. But her decision to take a swim caused her to get an infection.

“I got swept under a jetty which was full of algae and when I came out I looked like the creature from the black lagoon. I showered it afterwards off though,” she said.

Weeks after Thomason received the mosquito bite, her breast turned purple and smelled awful because it was infected with a flesh eating bug.

“I showed my mum and she said it looked like a nasty infection and that I should go to the doctor,” she said. “I went to the GP though and he told me that if I’d gone to bed and left it any longer I would probably have needed amputations or I might have died.”

When Thomason was rushed to the hospital, doctors weren’t sure at first what was really wrong with her. They soon realized, however, that she was suffering from necrotising fasciitis, also known as the flesh eating disease.

It is a rare but very serious bacterial infection that is categorized by small, red lumps or bumps on the skin, bruising, sweating, chills and nausea. 

Thomason was more prone to developing the condition because she has a weaker immune system due to her diabetes.

Luckily, surgeons were able to remove the infected skin. However, Thomason said that she is left with unsightly scars and some areas still feel painful.

She still hasn’t let the mosquito bite on her breast get her spirits down. “I feel blessed that I am still here and that I have all my limbs,” Thomason said.

[Image via Shuttershock]