Featured Image Credit: Marie Trainer
Topics: Health, News, US News, Science, Technology
Kit Roberts
Being licked by a dog might be a common occurrence for pet owners, but for one woman it had dire consequences.
Marie Trainer from Stark County, Ohio had just returned home from a vacation in 2019 with a small cut on her hand.
She didn't think anything of it when her dog welcomed her home with kisses, but things soon took a turn for the worse when she fell sick.
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Marie continued to get worse, telling FOX: “Four days later I wasn’t feeling well and just got sicker and sicker."
Believing it was a severe case of the flu, her husband Matt Trainer rushed her to hospital.
Medics were left at a loss as Marie entered a coma, and realised that it was not flu at all.
Eventually, Marie was diagnosed with a condition called capnocytophaga canimorsus.
This is a bacteria which is found in the saliva of dogs and cats and which triggers a severe immune response in the body.
That can lead to serious blood clots which then cut off circulation to the limbs calling them to become necrotic.
This is where the tissue simply starts dying on the body, and often means that amputation is urgently required to prevent the condition spreading.
In Marie's case, it required all four of her limbs to be amputated to contain the infection.
Since then, Marie has been undergoing rehabilitative therapy, including the use of prosthetic limbs.
She said: “It’s been challenging. Learning how to walk was the hardest thing, but I’m good, I’m doing good.”
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Ajay Seth praised the progress that Marie has made since she became ill.
He said: “To see the progress she’s made in five years it’s like miraculous, it’s unbelievable how far she’s come.
“And every time I see her she’s got that smile, not many people could do that.”
Matt has also been blown away by her progress, saying: “When I see her walk it’s like, ‘Oh my God this is amazing.
“We see the light at the end of the tunnel, we just adjust what we have to do, it just takes more planning when we want to do something.”
In addition to prosthetic legs, Marie has also been fitted for myoelectric protheses, which allow her to pick up and grip things with a thought.
And she had priorities when it came to using her new hands, saying: “So, the first thing I did was held Matts hand because I hadn’t done that in a while."
She went on to say how many people had been there for her over the years, saying: “Especially my husband, Oh gosh I don’t know what I would do without him. I love him more and more every day!”