Patient Stories

Personal stories convey both the fear, heartbreak and loss as well as accounts of extraordinary resilience and triumph over adversity.  A fall, a graze, a cut and suddenly a major crisis for the most healthy of people - this is the increasing threat as our antimicrobial medicines fail to protect us.

If you have any drug resistance infection personal stories that you'd like share here, please send an email to personalstories [at] combatamr.org


 

>MRSA infection survivor warns about the overuse of antibiotics

CAUTION: Contains graphic imagery. A survivor of the potentially life-threatening MRSA infection is calling for more education around superbugs. Vanessa Carter says the fact that antibiotic overuse can cause drug-resistant bacteria to multiply should become "common knowledge."

 

>Daphne Deckers, Dutch actress talks about her E-coli superbug battle

WHO Regional Office for Europe      Published on 14 Nov 2016

Daphne Deckers is a Dutch author, television host, and actress.  Daphne campaigns to raise awareness about antibiotic resistance following her personal experience with an E-coli superbug infection.

>A Patient's Story - Dealing with C.diff

Stockport resident Anne Faulkner talks about her experience of contracting Clostridium difficile.
Published on 14 May 2012

>Mohammed

Mohammed's Cancer chemotherapy weakened his immune system, allowing a highly resistant E. coli infection to take hold. He was successfully treated. Read more: https://antibiotic.ecdc.europa.eu/en/ecdc-patient-story-mohammed

>You become desperate': Obscure therapy saves woman's life

Published on 2 Apr 2013.KomoNews.com.
https://youtu.be/ECoB4R7a5Ew
Seattle resident, Rachel George, has a persistent infection defeated by using bacteriophages bringing hope to her and her family. Once again a successful phage treatment from the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages in the Republic of Georgia. Includes an interviews with a researcher at the Evergreen State College who works with Bacteriophages. Learn more about phage at: http://blogs.evergreen.edu/phage

>Killer Cure - Video about Phage Therapy, Georgia

Video about George Eliava institute of Bacteriophages, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
Published September 30, 2009. https://youtu.be/mrBSZaHuyTI
A former US Sheriff, after sustaining an knee injury suffered a debilitating staphylococcus infection for many years with antibiotics failing to cure the infection. Steve decided to be treated in Georgia at the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology- a research institution under the Ministry of Science and Education of Georgia which studies bacteriophages and phage therapy. He left Tbilisi cured!

>The Story of Peggy Lillis The Other Side of Antibiotics

https://www.prebiotin.com/peggy-lillis-foundation-fight-c-diff/
https://peggyfoundation.org/media/psas/
The benefits of antibiotics are well known, but the risks are not. In this video, Christian Lillis, son of Peggy Lillis, shares his personal story of losing his mother to an Clostridium difficile infection (C. difficile) caused by antibiotic use. Each year, more than 2 million people in the United States get infections from germs that are resistant to antibiotics – and at least 23,000 people die as a result. C. difficile infections, (can occur after using antibiotics), kill at least another 15,000 Americans a year. 

>Carl's Story: Remembering Our Son During U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week

Posted on November 15, 2017 by CDC's Safe Healthcare Blog
https://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/carls-story-remembering-our-son-dur...


Chris and Joyce Romm

Chris and Joyce Romm traveled to Washington, D.C., in April as part of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Supermoms Against Superbugs initiative. They shared their son Carl's story with policymakers and urged continued support for programs essential to the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Guest Author: Chris and Joyce Romm

Every year in the United States, at least 23,000 people die from antibiotic-resistant infections. Our son – Carl – was one of them.  Carl was our first child, and it's hard to put into words just how special he was. He was ambitious and caring. Curious and adventurous. He could do anything he put his mind to.  Like all parents, we wanted to do everything we could to keep our children safe as they were growing up. With every flip off of the trampoline or jump into the river, we got a few more gray hairs. And when Carl decided to join the Army, we of course worried about what enlisting could mean. But, of the countless potential scenarios that kept us up nights over the course of Carl's life, the dangers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria never even crossed our minds. Not once.

> Superbug ate my arm: Woman's terrifying encounter with flesh-eating bacteria in South Australia
Penelope Debelle, The Advertiser  November 8, 2013 1:00pm

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-lifestyle/antibiotics-are-us...

Australian fitness fanatic, Kerryn Harvey lost her arm and shoulder to flesh-eating bacteria.She was visiting Adelaide to participate in a cycle tour where another cyclist crossed her path, leaving her nowhere to go. She clipped his back wheel and came off her bike. Her elbow was bleeding and blew up like a balloon necessitating a trip to A&E where she had the wound cleaned and stitched and she stayed overnight. The next day her arm was getting worse. "I thought there's definitely something wrong, something must be broken in there," she says.

X-rays showed nothing amiss and she was given stronger painkillers. Nothing pointed to what was about to happen.

>Nancy C Caralla - C.diff Survivor

https://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/c-diff-survivor-and-advocate-shares
Nancy Caralla, an American nurse, contracted Clostridiumn difficile C while caring for patients suffering this horrible infection. As a C.diff survivor she established the C.diff foundation in 2012 with a mission to raising C.diff awareness worldwide.

 "Our Foundation is without borders as our outreach expands over horizons dedicated in our mission; Educating and advocating for C. difficile infection prevention, treatments, support, and environmental safety worldwide to end the suffering from this infection and help save lives." states Nancy C. Caralla, Founding President, Executive Director
 

For more patient stories visit: https://antibiotic.ecdc.europa.eu/en/patient-stories

Penicillin heralded the dawn of the antibiotic age - due to overuse and misuse we are approaching a post-antibiotic age.