Maggie Ashe Mother of three children who had necrotizing fasciitis Country: Great Britain

Biography of Maggie Ashe

Maggie Ashe, a mother of three children from the United Kingdom, has had to endure the attack of necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating infection, not once, but twice. The bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes left deep scars on her abdomen, leg, and thigh. Both times, Maggie contracted the infection while pregnant.

In 2010, after giving birth to her son Lucas, Maggie experienced necrotizing fasciitis for the first time. This rare but serious disease, caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, left her in a coma for several days. When she woke up, she discovered that the infection was consuming her flesh, similar to a shark tearing chunks from its prey.

During her first pregnancy, Maggie had no complications. Surprisingly, the onset of such a dangerous disease can be triggered by seemingly innocuous infections, such as chickenpox. In September 2010, while carrying her second child at 34 weeks pregnant, Maggie noticed a pea-sized formation on her thigh. Unaware of what it was, within two days, the formation darkened and grew to the size of a melon. Maggie was rushed to the hospital, where she was in such a critical condition that she deliriously begged the doctors to amputate her leg. Although she was pumped with antibiotics and painkillers, she still lost consciousness.

Ten days later, Maggie woke up, convinced that her baby had died. To her relief, her son Lucas, born prematurely through an emergency cesarean section, was doing well, given the circumstances. It took three more days before Maggie was allowed to see her baby due to concerns that she was still infected. Unfortunately, she was unable to hold him. The challenging circumstances of Lucas's birth made it difficult for a bond to form between mother and child. However, eventually, Maggie made a full recovery, and everything seemed to be going well until December of the following year when she gave birth to her youngest daughter, Crystal.

Just a couple of days after giving birth, Maggie's abdomen started to blister, and she was urgently taken to the hospital. According to Maggie herself, what was happening to her felt like a horrifying horror movie. However, she remembers very little as she fell into a coma again shortly after the reappearance of necrotizing fasciitis. After undergoing another surgical operation, Maggie was discharged from the hospital at the end of January and is now recovering at home in Blackpool, Lancashire.

As a grim reminder of the deadly infection, an extensive area of damaged skin remains on Maggie's body, which will require cosmetic surgery. Doctors were surprised that necrotizing fasciitis, a relatively rare disease - fortunately for everyone involved - attacked Maggie twice, under similar circumstances when her body was weakened and vulnerable due to pregnancy. Necrotizing fasciitis affects soft tissues and fasciae, the connective tissue sheaths of muscles and blood vessels, and the bacteria can enter the body through a simple cut or even a surgical procedure. One of the first signs of the disease can be severe pain, disproportionate to the visible signs of infection on the skin. The pain can be excruciating, while the scratch or cut may be tiny and invisible. As the disease progresses, high fever, diarrhea, and vomiting may occur, and eventually, the person may lose consciousness due to intoxication and die from multiple organ failure.