Phoenix-A Phoenix woman, who has already beaten cancer twice, is now fighting for her life after contracting botulism from a foodborne illness.
Peterson-Mayes was diagnosed with a rare cancer at the age of 2 months, survived it, fought and beat an aggressive form of bone cancer at the age of 11. After that, at 24 years old, she became ill, again, from spoiled food.
She had been leading a normal life and had a job as a wedding planner until about a month ago when she attended a get-together. It was at this party that she and five other friends decided to eat a homemade, fermented swordfish prepared by a friend. Peterson-Mayes noted that the fish “tasted disgusting” but never thought of it as something that would affect her drastically.
Within days she started becoming extremely ill. She couldn’t even swallow water. Her ability to swallow soon disappeared, and then after almost choking on coffee she decided to call an ambulance, at which time her condition had gotten so much worse. Doctors were unsure of what Peterson-Mayes had. They almost sent her home, but they decided to send her to a different hospital to get checked further. She was diagnosed with botulism; a serious foodborne illness that has many side effects as toxins attack the nervous system.
Her condition became very severe, very fast. She was unable to move, speak, or walk and was placed on life support. Her body had become paralyzed because the toxins of botulism attack the muscles needed for moving as well as the ones needed for breathing.
“I woke up and I couldn’t move at all. It was very scary,” said Peterson-Mayes from her hospital room. Of the six friends who ate the fish, only Peterson-Mayes and two others contracted botulism, and the other two have been released from the hospital.
Botulism, especially foodborne botulism, is very uncommon, and about a dozen people in the United States are afflicted each year. Peterson-Mayes was treated with an antitoxin, and while she is now out of danger, she will still need weeks or even months of rehabilitation to regain basic functions of movement and speech.
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