12-year-old wore tampon while swimming - infection almost costs girl her life

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• A young girl contracts a life-threatening infection while swimming in a lake.
• The toxic shock syndrome (TSS) was caused by a tampon that the 12-year-old was wearing.
• Doctors were able to save her life in hospital. She is now doing well again.

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Kelci Smith-Anthony from Pittsfield, Illinois (USA), and her family actually just wanted to spend a relaxing vacation day at a reservoir in the US state of Missouri. While wearing a tampon, the 12-year-old jumped into the cool water and swam a lap along the lake shore. She then returned to her parents in a good mood. Only a short time later, a terrible fight for life and death began for the teenager.

As theDaily Mailreports, Kelci complained of pain in her abdomen on the way home. The cramps got worse by the minute. She developed a high fever and her blood pressure plummeted to dangerously low levels. When Kelcy tried to go to the toilet the next morning, she collapsed and fainted.

Multiple organ failure after the infection

The parents reacted immediately - and took the girl to the nearest hospital. There they received the shock news. "Our daughter suffered multiple organ failure. It was the worst nightmare for parents," the mother wrote on Facebook. The doctors diagnosed that Kelci had suffered a bacterial infection from the lake water. "The dirty water had been absorbed through the cord, and the bacteria in the water caused an infection that led to Toxic Shock Syndrome," the mother said.

At the hospital, Kelcy was immediately transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit. "Her blood pressure was extremely low and her heart rate was very high," the mother continued. Thanks to the rapid intervention of the doctors, Kelci was finally stabilized. She is on the road to recovery and is expected to make a full recovery. However, the growing girl will never be able to use tampons again in the future. She will probably suffer from increased sensitivity to the toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus for the rest of her life.