‘Healthy’ woman, 29, dies suddenly after body aches and feeling tired – with ‘no sign of what was to come’
A SEEMINGLY healthy woman died after a "severe superbug" attacked her organs and ate holes in her lungs.
Ashley Timbery, 29, had no worrying symptoms before she suddenly collapsed after losing feelings in her legs.
After undergoing tests, medics found a dangerous bacteria had left one of her lungs "covered in holes".
With the infection going undetected for weeks, Ashley passed away just days after being diagnosed.
Her cousin said Ashley just felt a bit tired and her body ached before falling ill at her home in Nowra in New South Wales, Australia on February 15.
She also had a couple of boils but thought nothing of them.
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After being rushed to Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, Ashley was put into an induced coma.
Tests revealed she had a "severe" infection, but her family didn't find out it was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) until 10 days later when Ashley was moved to St George Hospital in Sydney.
MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that usually lives harmlessly on the skin.
But when it gets inside the body, it can cause a serious infection that needs immediate treatment, according to the NHS.
As it's become resistant to some commonly used antibiotics and can be difficult to clear, it's sometimes referred to as a "superbug".
Ashley's infection had triggered pneumonia, a lung inflammation which can be fatal.
Medics had to drain and inflate Ashley's right lung when it collapsed at Shoalhaven, and do the same again with her left lung at St George.