Woman, 24, who survived cancer twice now facing life-threatening illness after eating friend's homemade meal
A young woman who has survived cancer twice is now battling botulism, a rare and life-threatening disease.
24-year-old Trinity Peterson-Mayes's first health battle was when she was just a baby.
When she was two months old Trinity's loved ones were told that she had neuroblastoma, which is rare cancer that typically affects children under five.
Fortunately she survived the illness, but at the age of 11 Trinity was diagnosed with yet another type of cancer. This time it was osteosarcoma — a childhood bone cancer.
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She beat this illness too and her family hoped that her hardest battles were finally behind her.
But tragedy has struck once more and Trinity contracted botulism in February. She now faces a long road to recovery.
The young woman had tried her friend’s homemade fermented swordfish which lead to her getting the illness.
Of her five other friends who joined her in trying the fermented swordfish, two ended up getting botulism as well.
Speaking to KPNX, Trinity said that the fish 'tasted horrible'. She added: "It's supposed to be healthy and I figured I might as well try, if it's bad and I'll just get a bad stomach ache."
Trinity continued to feel unwell in the days that followed. "Slowly, over the course of 24 hours, I went from not being able to chug water to not being able to drink any water at all," she explained.
Trinity eventually went to hospital and was diagnosed with botulism shortly after being transferred to St. Joseph's Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, for specialized neurological care.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention website states that botulism is caused by 'a toxin that attacks the body’s nerves and causes difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis and even death'.
Recalling her hospitalization, Trinity shared: "I woke up and I had three IVs. I was intubated, I had a central line in my neck, and I had an NG [nasogastric] tube... and I just woke up and I couldn't move at all.
"It was very scary. I wasn't able to talk before. I wasn't able to walk."
As of yesterday (March 15), Trinity had been discharged from hospital but her health woes are far from over, per an update that her mom – Loren Amatruda – gave on a GoFundMe page she created to pay for her daughter's medical bills.
Loren wrote: "We wanted to share an update on Trinity and thank everyone again for the incredible love, prayers, and support. Your kindness has meant so much to our family during this difficult time.
"Trinity is continuing to make progress. Her vision has improved significantly and the double vision is now gone. Her speech has also gotten much better, although it is still a little muffled as she continues to regain strength."
Loren went on: "Although Trinity has made amazing progress, recovery from botulism is a long road. It will take time before she returns to normal, and the ongoing therapies, medical needs, and time away from work continue to place a heavy burden on her."
At the time of writing the page has raised over $8,000 of its $10,000 target. You can donate to it here.
Niamh Shackleton