I was left fighting for my life and lost all four limbs after getting caught in the steam machine at a gig
AN aspiring model had all four limbs amputated after contracting a rare respiratory disease from a concert's mist machine.
Just three days after Evelyn Davis, 22, went to a gig in June she began feeling extremely tired and unwell.
The construction company admin assistant from Tyler, Texas, also felt feverish and got a reading of 104.5°F when she took her temperature - that's over 40°C.
Strangely, Evelyn's temperature was down to normal when she took it 10 minutes later.
But when she woke up the following day feeling even more unwell, Evelyn decided to go to hospital, where she was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia.
The 22-year-old was taken to another hospital and she recalled feeling 'completely delirious'.
Read more on Legionnaire's disease
"I had no idea what was happening and who anybody was," Evelyn said.
"My mom told me that I told her that I was about to die."
She then fell into a coma for 16 days and had a series of 'wild dreams' including being on the beach eating fruit with the Kardashians.
But the 22-year-old went into full organ failure while unconscious and was given medication to stabilise her blood pressure.
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"They had me on vasopressors to stabilise my blood pressure but they draw all the circulation to your organs," Evelyn explained. As a result, blood flow to her extremities was cut off.
"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."
Doctors discovered she had - a rare but serious lung infection caused by inhaling tiny droplets of bacteria-laced water - around ten days into her coma that.
Though it's uncommon, you can catch the disease from air conditioning systems, humidifiers, pools, hot tubs and taps in places where bacteria have got into the water supply.
It's more likely this'll happen in hotels, hospitals or offices than at home, .
Due to its timing, Evelyn's doctors believe she likely contracted Legionnaires' disease from the mist machine at the music concert she attended.
What are the signs and symptoms of Legionnaires' disease?
The initial symptoms are very similar to that of the flu.
People are likely to suffer from:
- Headaches
- Muscle pain
- High temperatures
- Tiredness
- Chills
But when the bacteria spreads to the individual's lungs the symptoms are more similar to that of pneumonia:
- Chest pains
- A persistent cough
- Shortness of breath
She 'miraculously' woke up on July 2.
Evelyn said: "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."
As she grew more aware, Evelyn had a feeling they would be amputated.
She recalled: "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."
Just a few days later, Evelyn had all four of her limbs removed: first her legs, which were amputated below the knees, and then her arms.
Her right arm was severed just above her wrist, while for her left it was two inches before her elbow.
"It didn't hit me until the day of the surgery and they wheeled me into the operating room and explained the procedure," Evelyn remembered.
"When I woke up without them I thought 'ok, well, it is what it is'."
Evelyn claims she was told by docs that she had a slim chance of ever walking again and that one suggested she should be admitted to a nursing home.
Evelyn said: "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.
"The team [at the hospital] told me that I was literally going to be a miracle, they worked so hard to get me 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'.
But determined Evelyn only used these words as ammunition to prove people wrong, standing up and taking her first steps on September 22, just two months after losing her legs.
She described it as an 'unreal' moment - and praised the rehab therapists for their tireless work to help her.
"They told me that I may only be able to stand and not take any steps and I ended up walking 75ft. I shocked everybody," the 22-year-old stated.
Evelyn even revisited the doctor she says told her to go to a nursing home, who apologised for what he'd said after seeing her walk into the room.
After smashing the first goal she set of being able to stand up in Christmas pictures, Evelyn is now looking to the future and becoming more independent.
Coming to terms with what happened to her hasn't always been easy.
Evelyn said: "I've still been very joyful and hopeful throughout this whole situation but about a month ago it really hit me hard and I realised everything that I'd lost and how my life is pretty difficult now.
"But about a week later I turned a corner and got back to my hopeful and joyful self. It's just a part of me now."
She now goes to occupational and physical therapy twice a week, as well as occasional pool therapy.
She has pin and lock leg prosthetics and two bebionic hands, which have 14 different hand patterns.
She's hoping to start driving school, become a disabled model and obtain a social work degree so she can become a patient advocate in the future.
Evelyn said: "Physically everything has become much more of a challenge, even just dressing myself is so hard because I don't have a normal balance or hands to pull up my pants, or even clasp my bra.
"I love figuring out ways and have gotten to the point where I dress myself every morning but it takes five minutes, when it used to take 30 seconds.
"I thought I'd lose people and friends but they all just constantly surround me. Everyone has been committed to make sure I'm not alone in this.
And the aspiring model had some advice to give too.
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"I'd tell others that if you don't feel right, don't wait."
She reflected: "If I would have gone [earlier] when I started feeling sick, my limbs may have possibly been saved."
