Suth Ret, 18 years old, was left without any facial structure at all after she inadvertently caught flesh-eating bacteria during a routine dental work, according to Daily Mail.
Ret claimed that she developed necrotizing fasciitis after a minor dental procedure last December. She had one of her teeth removed.
At first, the bacteria formed a wound on her face. However, she didn’t have it checked as soon as possible. So, the bacteria, which was discovered in her throat, made its way into her bloodstream.
The bacteria then began to destroy her face, “eroding away the skin on right side of her skull and leaving her with 'no face,’” according to Daily Mail.
Ret, who’s from Cambodia, was immediately taken to a hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ret weighed an alarming and shocking 38 kg or almost 85 pounds.
While she currently fights for her life, doctors are trying to figure out how to stop the bacteria from spreading.
Yulia Khouri, a Canadian expatriate who lives in the same village as the teenage girl, sought help from international organizations and funds to cover the girl’s increasing medical costs.
Khouri said, “Once I saw her there was nothing else I could do but help. She has been fully aware, fully conscious through all of this but she doesn't know the extent of the damage to her face.”
She continued, “I cannot imagine the levels of pain she has gone through. It's not like she is sick, or has cancer or some disease. She was 100 per cent healthy three months ago. She was just sneezing and now she has no face.”
A German team of facial reconstruction surgeons went to visit Ret and checked on her.
Khouri said, “It's a race against time but she is stable. We are looking to raise money to assist with her recovery.”
According to the National Health Services, Necrotizing fasciitis is an infection caused by bacteria from the group Streptococcus. Although these infections tend to last for only a few days after they take care of themselves, there are a few cases in which they get worse and start eating up flesh of the body.
When they get worse, these bacterial infections can produce toxins that can eventually destroy all of the tissue around it that can result to loss of body parts or even death.
Ret is now in stable condition, but she still has long road to recovery.
