Arizona Woman Hospitalized with Flesh-Eating Disease, Experimental Spray Helps Save Her Life
Lipinski is proud to be part of the Valleywise Foundation Team Courage Rising group. She and several other burn survivors hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest single free-standing mountain in the world, in 2022. Money raised from this adventure helps fund the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center – Valleywise Health.
In January 2018, Christin Lipinski, a special education teacher in Peoria, Arizona, was diagnosed with the flu. Her kids and husband had been sick, so she wasn’t surprised she contracted what appeared to be the same virus. She treated her symptoms and assumed she would be back to normal in a couple of days. But that was far from her reality.
After experiencing increasingly worse pain in her side and armpit area, Lipinski asked her husband to take her to the hospital where doctors made a shocking discovery. What began as a bacterial infection had developed into a highly aggressive form of necrotizing fasciitis, an extremely rare and destructive disease also known as flesh-eating bacteria.
“Seemingly overnight, a slight red rash on my side became blistery and purple,” said Lipinski. “It turned out to be a flesh-eating bacteria, and I needed emergency surgery. The doctors told us they were going to have to ‘chase’ the bacteria to save my life. My husband was told to prepare for the worst.”
“The bacteria had already damaged my body from my armpit to my stomach and all down my side,” Lipinski added. “I needed a significant amount of skin grafting to replace all the damaged tissue that was literally deteriorating in front of the physician’s eyes. The best place to be treated was the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center – Valleywise Health, so that is where my life-changing journey began.”
Within 12 hours of arrival at the Halle Arizona Burn Center, Lipinski underwent two surgeries to remove the infected tissue. In total, more than 30% of her soft tissue had to be surgically removed to save her life and prevent the rare and deadly bacteria from spreading. She was in critical condition, in a drug-induced coma, and on a respirator for days as her body – and doctors – fought the necrotizing fasciitis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), necrotizing fasciitis causes soft tissue like skin, muscle, ligaments, blood vessels, and fat to die. If left untreated, the bacteria spreads throughout the body and can cause death in a short period of time.
After more than 23 skin graft and reconstruction surgeries, several months in the hospital, and countless hours of physical therapy, Lipinski is working to get her life back after the freak incident.
One of the tools the Valleywise Health medical team used to ensure her survival was an experimental skin spray called ReCell. Dr. Kevin Foster, Director of the Halle Arizona Burn Center, thought ReCell, commonly used on burn victims to aid in skin regeneration, might improve the healing and reconstruction of Lipinski’s large open arm wound.
After seeking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) permission, Foster applied ReCell to Lipinski’s wound. Foster believes this was the first time ReCell was used to treat necrotizing fasciitis. This product is now being used to treat other patients with flesh-eating bacteria.
“I’m so grateful to my family, friends, God, and, most importantly, the knowledgeable medical professionals at the Halle Arizona Burn Center,” said Lipinski. “Seeing how much the doctors and nurses cared about me and my healing journey is unbelievable. I consider these people my family now and credit them with saving my life so I can continue to make a difference in the lives of my kids and special needs students.”
Lipinski is proud to be part of the Valleywise Foundation Team Courage Rising group. She and several other burn survivors hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest single free-standing mountain in the world, in 2022. Money raised from this adventure helps fund the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center – Valleywise Health.
To support the work of Valleywise Health Foundation.
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