I woke up one morning with a bite on my arm – two days later my organs began to fail and my toes were amputated
A WOMAN was left fighting for her life and had to have her fingers and toes amputated after a bug bite led to her organs shutting down.
Cathrine Abbott-Coetzee woke up one morning in December 2013 with a bite on her arm, which she assumed was from a mosquito.
But within two days, her health deteriorated and, after fainting, she was rushed to hospital.
The small bite, which was later revealed to have been from a tick, caused terrifying complications, as Cathrine’s organs began to fail, causing dry gangrene – a condition where the tissue becomes dry and shrinks due to lack of blood flow, turning black.
Catrhrine saw most of her fingers and toes reduced to “short black stumps” – and four months after the bite, she had nine toes and seven fingers amputated.
While she survived the scare and was given prosthetics for her fingers and shoe inserts for her toes, life had changed forever – with Cathrine’s mental health declining and her marriage breaking down as a result.
“I can’t wish my life back,” Cathrine, now 60, said.
“I just want to be the happy person I used to be.
“One of the biggest breakthroughs I made was realising my fingers had been part of my life for five decades but I wasn’t dependent on them.
“They did not define me as a person.”
Cathrine, who lives in Christiana in the North West province of South Africa, has had more than a decade to adjust to her new life following the bite in 2013.
As well as her health battle, she also faced personal issues, with her marriage breaking down – partly due to the stress of the incident – and Cathrine said she “often wished she hadn’t survived”.
But things have taken a turn for the better, with Cathrine finding love and finally being able to embrace her differences.
In 2022, she reconnected with an old friend from her school days, Prieur du Plessis, 63, after not having spoken in 45 years – and quickly formed a strong bond.
Cathrine said: “We sat and chatted about the old days and what had happened to whom and the conversation just wouldn’t stop.”
Her missing fingers weren’t an issue, though Prieur sensed that she was still in “mental anguish” about all that she had been through.
How to prevent tick bites - and remove the bugs
There are a few things you can do to lessen your likelihood of tick bites.
Firstly, try and cover as much of your skin as possible while walking outdoors and tuck your trousers into your socks.
You should also be using insect repellent containing DEET on your clothes and skin, and wearing light coloured clothing so you can spot a tick easily.
Also stick to paths where possible when you’re out walking.
How can I remove a tick safely?
To remove a tick safely:
- Use fine-tipped tweezers or a tick-removal tool. You can buy these from some pharmacies, vets and pet shops.
- Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
- Slowly pull upwards, taking care not to squeeze or crush the tick. Dispose of it when you have removed it.
- Clean the bite with antiseptic or soap and water.
The chance of getting ill is low. You do not need to do anything else unless you notice a rash or become unwell.
If either of these happen, make sure to see a GP so you can get treatment as soon a possible.
Cathrine added: “My laughter was also taken from me when I lost my fingers and toes.
“Prieur gave me my laughter back.
“We laugh so much.”
He proposed in mid-2023.
Cathrine said: “I thought, here I come, half a person – not just physically but also emotionally.
“And he’s willing to take me just as I am.
“That says a lot.”
Cathrine has also spent time in therapy, working on herself, and says it helped bring her to her now-fiancé.
She said: “During the sessions, the psychologist told me to go to an imaginary place where I feel safe.
“For me, that place was a waterfall.
“I had to take an imaginary stone and scrape off a little bit of the sadness clinging to me every day.
“Then I had to throw those bits of pain into the water one by one to be washed away.
“But it takes a while.
“It was a damn long road.
“However, it brought me here, to Prieur’s house.
“Now that I have someone in my life again, I treasure what I have and what we have together.”
While her stumps are still sensitive if stubbed, Cathrine has otherwise been able to fully adjust to life with her new hands and feet.
And she happily flashes the ring Prieur, a retired electrician, made for her from a piece of copper.
How to treat bug bites and when to know it's serious
Insect bites or stings are not usually serious and get better in a few days.
But sometimes they can become infected or cause a serious allergic reaction.
In some cases, bites may also trigger illnesses, such as Lyme disease passed on from ticks or malaria and dengue from mosquitoes.
In most cases you’ll be able to treat bites without seeing a GP.
If anything is left on or in your skin – like a bee stinger or tick – the first thing you need to do is remove it carefully.
If there’s nothing in your skin, or you’ve removed it, wash your skin with soap and water to help lower the chance of infection.
You can use an ice pack or clean cloth soaked in cold water to soothe it if it’s swollen and take painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen.
Antihistamines and hydrocortisone cream can also help relieve itching.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you’ve been bitten or stung by an insect and:
- Your symptoms get worse or are not getting any better
- You were stung in your mouth or throat, or near your eyes
- You have tummy pain and are being sick
- You feel dizzy or lightheaded
- A large area around the bite or sting becomes red and swollen
- You have a high temperature and swollen glands
- You were stung more than once
- You’ve had a serious allergic reaction to an insect bite or sting before
Source: NHS