Doctors were forced to amputate all four limbs from a teenage girl who contracted meningitis, sounding the alarm to get a vaccination that is often overlooked by parents. INSIDE EDITION reports.
A teenager from Orange County, California, is living through a medical nightmare. Doctors were forced to amputate all four of Kaitlyn Dobrow's limbs after she was struck with a deadly form of meningitis.
Before she became sick, she loved to dance. The 18-year-old's life was shattered when she suddenly came down with flu like symptoms.
Her mother said, “She woke up with horrible headaches, horrible body aches. I assumed she had the flu.”
Hours later, lesions appeared on her face.
She was rushed to UCI Medical Center where doctors found it wasn't the flu but meningitis and it had spread to her bloodstream. Doctors had to amputate her limbs to save her life.
Her mother said, “It's been a nightmare.”
Her father said, “Physically she's been tortured. Not only the pain from the amputations, but she has phantom pain from limbs that had been removed.”
But in a tragic twist, it turns out all of this heartache could have been avoided. A simple vaccination could have prevented the disease from striking.
Dr. Matt Zahn is with Orange County public health and says unfortunately many parents don't even know about the vaccine.
Dr. Zahn said, “It’s extraordinarily difficult because a disease like this is often devastating and it's completely preventable. The time when you are supposed to visit doctors and get the vaccine is 11 or 12 years of age. For many people when their kids are healthy it doesn't occur to them they should be going to the doctor or getting these vaccinations.”
It's a warning that this doctor hopes will help other people avoid the devastating condition that brave Kaitlyn faces today.
To learn more about the fundraising effort for Kaitlyn, click here.
