Off The Record

Woman Lost All Her Limbs After Walking Home And Doing What She Does Every Day

Published on September 26, 2024

A US woman who lost all four of her limbs after entering her home and acting “normally” has updated her rehabilitation.

Marie Trainer had no idea that her life would change irrevocably in the spring of 2019 when she got home from a tropical vacation.

Marie’s dog, who was obviously happy to see her again, gave her a hearty welcome home and planted a kiss on her forehead.

The Ohio resident didn’t even consider the little cut on her hand at the moment of the welcome because it looked so natural.

But a few days later, her life would drastically alter.

Marie’s 37-year-old husband, Matt Trainer, took her to a nearby hospital after she started feeling increasingly ill over the course of the next four days.

“I wasn’t feeling well and just got sicker and sicker,” she explained, after seeking medical attention Marie slipped into a coma as doctors were able to understand what exactly had happened to her.

Following tests at the Cleveland Clinic and her local hospital, Marie was diagnosed with an uncommon infection caused by the capnocytophaga canimorsus bacterium.

What is Capnocytophaga Canimorsus?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that dogs and cats frequently have capnocytophaga bacteria in their saliva.

The bacteria can cause an uncommon but potentially deadly infection if it gets inside the human body.

The bacteria can also cause serious side effects like gangrene, heart attack, kidney failure, sepsis, and severe blood clots.

Physicians surmise that Marie’s dog may have licked the open lesion on her hand, allowing the bacteria to enter her system.

Days later, Marie would wake up in a hospital bed to find that her arms and legs had been amputated. Her limbs developed several blood clots as a result of the bacterium, turning her arms and legs necrotic.

“It was just rapidly progressing where her hands and feet were turning black,” Dr. Ajay Seth, told Fox News.

At first, it was suggested that Marie would require a thoracic amputation of all four of her limbs. But Dr. Seth was desperate to preserve as much as he could so that she might wear a prosthesis.

Dr. Seth mostly spared Marie’s arms, but she would eventually need to have both of her legs amputated above the knees. Since then, she has been recovering for five years.

“It’s been challenging,” she said.

“Learning how to walk was the hardest thing, but I’m good, I’m doing good.”

Since then, Marie has been fitted with cutting-edge myoelectric prostheses, which have restored her ability to pursue hobbies like gardening and drawing.

“When I see her walk, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing,'” said Matt of his wife’s recovery, “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.”

“To see the progress she’s made in five years, it’s like miraculous, it’s unbelievable how far she’s come,” said Dr. Seth.