A man dies from a tick bite and his wife tells the tragic experience to inform as many people as possible
Being witnesses to the death of one's life partner is something that we hope to experience as late as possible in life and there is no way to be prepared. Furthermore, when their death happens suddenly and absurdly, the non-acceptance becomes even more painful and longlasting.
Mrs. Crissy Brownstein Naticchia knows something about this, and she had to say goodbye to her husband after he was bitten by a well-known but vastly underestimated animal --- the tick.
We share her dramatic story here to help her to reduce the probabilities that this type of death will continue to happen.
via themighty.com
A month after her husband's death, she wrote an article in which she talks about the circumstances in which the tragedy occurred.
"In 23 years of marriage, my husband had gotten sick only twice. At the time of the tragedy, he was only 50 years old and he was in good health. One day he came back from work with a fever, which is really strange for him. After several days when the fever did not show any signs of abating, and no other symptoms had appeared, he decided to go to the hospital. The first diagnosis came back as a kidney infection and the doctors prescribed antibiotics and sent him home. Although the fever was gone he said he always felt very tired.
In the course of a few days the situation began to worsen, and so we went back to the emergency room and in the four days of hospitalization that followed, his kidneys and liver failed. Consequently, he was subjected to dialysis and heavily sedated, but meanwhile, all the analyses continued to give negative results.
Finally, after days of anxiety spent getting nowhere, the doctors came back to us with a diagnosis. They said that my husband had babesiosis, an infectious disease that attacks red blood cells for which ticks can be held responsible. At that point, the doctors were able to administer the appropriate antibiotics and also subjected my husband to blood transfusions that initially seemed to work. I returned home hopeful, like my children and the rest of our family, but when I received a phone call at 4:30 am, I was absolutely shocked! My husband's blood pressure was becoming lower and lower, and in fact, his heart was failing. Two hours later the doctors announced his death."
"My husband's death is a meaningless tragedy."
"We will never know what type of early treatment would have been necessary to save my husband's life, but I do know that I lost my children's father because he was bitten by a tick that caused an infection that is not talked about enough."
"I don't want commiseration. I share my story so that as many people as possible are aware of this danger."
Facebook/Crissy Brownstein Naticchia
The story that Mrs. Naticchia has shared with us should be given particular attention to by people, who like her husband, have undergone the surgical removal of their spleen or who are living with an immunodeficiency condition.
In this article, you can find useful information on what to do in case of a tick bite and how to best defend yourself from ticks.
