She contracted the infection while swimming in a stream during a family vacation.
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A 19-year-old Brooklyn College student died from a degenerative brain infection she contracted while swimming in a creek during a family vacation, the Daily Freeman reports. But Stoutenburgh’s sister says she thought it was something much worse.
The Cecil County Health Department said Naegleria fowleri naturally occurs in bodies of fresh, warm water.
She was initially treated and sent home, according to The Daily Freeman, but her conditioned worsened.
The 19-year-old was taken off her respirator and died August 31. The amoeba can also be found in geothermal drinking water sources, improperly maintained chlorinated pools, water heaters, and sometimes burrowed in soil. The infection is contracted when the amoeba enters the human body through the nose and travels to the brain, causing a rare brain infection known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). The infection it causes is rare and deadly. A 16-year-old in Florida survived the brain infection earlier in August, CNN reported, making him the fourth survivor.
Kerry’s family said she was a girl scout, a talented musician who played a variety of instruments, and idolized Quentin Tarantino, 53, and David Fincher, 54.
A GoFundMe page set-up by her grieving family reads: “She is believed to be the first person in the State of NY and the State of Maryland to die from the extremely rare parasite”.
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“Kerry was a handsome soul both inside and out”.
