Evelyn Davis: Aspiring model, 22, loses all 4 limbs after contracting disease from concert's mist machine
TYLER, TEXAS: A budding model, unfortunately, had all four limbs amputated after she contracted Legionnaires' disease from a mist machine at a concert. Evelyn Davis, 22, went to a gig in June but she felt sick just a few days later along with a high temperature and fever. This happened three days after the concert but as she had an irregular body temperature beforehand, she decided to wait it out and see if it went down.
The construction company admin assistant was rushed to hospital after she woke up the following day feeling even more unwell. Davis was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia, and said she fell into a coma for 16 days during which she experienced full organ failure. The Texas native also claimed to have had a series of 'wild dreams,' including being on the beach eating fruit with the Kardashians.
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Evelyn describes her journey
"Within the first two hours of being transported [to another hospital], I got completely delirious. I had no idea what was happening and who anybody was," said Davis, according to The Mirror. She added, "My mum told me that I told her that I was about to die. I was in a coma for 16 days. I had very wild dreams when I was in my coma. I dreamt that I was on the beach with the Kardashians and I was eating a bunch of fruit."
Evelyn had been drugs to stabilize her blood pressure
Davis said she had been given drugs in order to stabilize her blood pressure, which cut off blood supply to her hands and feet for 12 days after which she was taken off them. "They had me on vasopressors to stabilize my blood pressure but they draw all the circulation to your organs and take away blood flow and circulation to your extremities," she explained. Davis added, "I was on those for about 12 days so I'd lost all blood flow to my hands and feet by the time they were able to take me off them. Once I woke up, I felt that something was wrong with my limbs because they were completely black and cold but my brain was still very groggy, I really couldn't process much."
Doctors discovered Davis had Legionnaires' disease at around 10 days into her coma. They believed she likely contracted it from the mist machine at the music concert she went to. "[The doctors] said that I most likely contracted it from the concert that I was at because they had a mist machine and there was probably legionella bacteria in them," she said. Davis 'miraculously' woke up on July 2, and remained on a ventilator for a couple more days. On July 20th, she underwent amputation surgery for both legs below the knees. A week later, she had her right arm amputated above her wrist and her left arm amputated two inches below her elbow.
"As soon as I got to the other hospital and my brain was more aware and I saw what my limbs looked like, I knew they were going to have to be amputated before anyone told me," she said. Davis added, "I was in complete shock when they told me I just said 'ok that's fine', my whole family was just distraught. They were crying and mourning the loss that I was going to have but I was in such shock that I really didn't even know what to think." She continued, "It didn't hit me until the day of the surgery and they wheeled me into the operating room and explained the procedure. When I woke up without them I though 'ok, well, it is what it is.'"
Evelyn was warned by the doctors
For a month she stayed in hospital before being transferred to an inpatient rehab, where she stayed for three-and-a-half months. Davis claimed that the doctors warned her that she had a slim chance of ever walking again, and one doctor suggested she should be admitted to a nursing home. On September 22 she stood up and took her first steps. She praised the rehabilitation therapists for their tireless work helping her and described it as an "unreal" moment.
"The doctors told my parents and husband that I wasn't going to recover and if I did ever wake up, I'd have substantial organ damage, but I did and all my organs were ok," she said. Davis added, "The team [at the hospital] told me that I was literally going to be a miracle, they worked so hard to get me to where I needed to be. One doctor said there was a pretty slim chance that I'd walk again. At another hospital, one doctor told me that I had 'no potential' and that I just 'needed to be admitted into a nursing home and live my life there because there was nothing left for me.'"
She further added, "Hearing the doctors say these things made me determined to prove them wrong. I'm very competitive, so to be told no or that I can't, I almost always will show you that I can. With therapy, I started striving really quickly. [When I returned to the other] doctor [and he] saw me walk into the room after he'd pretty much given me a death sentence in a nursing home, he told me that I was doing great, and apologised for what he said. Taking those first steps was unreal, they told me that I may only be able to stand and not take any steps and I ended up walking 75 ft. I shocked everybody."
