Trinity Peterson-Mayes has faced immense challenges throughout her life. She is a two-time cancer survivor, but sadly, she is now battling a life-threatening illness — all after eating a homemade meal at a friend’s house.
Trinity Peterson-Mayes, from Arizona, survived a rare childhood cancer at just 2 months old and then an aggressive cancer at age 11. She miraculously pulled through both battles and grew up. Now, at 24, Trinity is once again facing a terrifying disease.
She contracted a rare, life-threatening illness after eating a homemade meal with friends. They tried homemade fermented swordfish, but shortly afterward, she sensed something was wrong.
“It tasted horrible, I’m going to be so honest,” Trinity told local outlet KPNX. “It’s supposed to be healthy and I figured I might as well try — if it’s bad, I’ll just get a bad stomach ache.”
Just days later, Trinity struggled to drink water without it going down the wrong pipe.
“Slowly, over the course of 24 hours, I went from not being able to chug water to not being able to drink any water at all,” she explained.
Woman, 24, battling life-threatening illness after eating friend’s homemade meal
When Trinity couldn’t even sip coffee without choking, the 24-year-old rushed to the hospital. At first, doctors nearly sent her home because they couldn’t determine what was wrong.
Shortly after, Trinity was diagnosed with botulism. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, botulism is a rare illness caused by “a toxin that attacks the body’s nerves and causes difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis and even death.”
Emergency physician Dr. Frank LoVecchio told KPNX the illness is so rare that “most emergency physicians go their whole career without seeing a case.”
Trinity was transferred to St. Joseph’s Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute for specialized neurological care. She now faces a long recovery.
“I woke up and I had three IVs,” Trinity said. “I was intubated, I had a central line in my neck, and I had an NG tube… and I just woke up and I couldn’t move at all. It was very scary. I wasn’t able to talk before. I wasn’t able to walk.”
Created GoFundMe to help with costs
Her mother launched a GoFundMe to help cover medical bills, hospice care, rehabilitation, and therapy.
“The doctors told us something we never expected to hear — none of the neurologists treating Trinity have ever seen a case of botulism in person. They have only read about it in medical textbooks,” the GoFundMe reads.
“The life-saving antitoxin had to be rushed in from another state to stop the toxin from continuing to cause paralysis. Thankfully, Trinity received the antitoxin, which stops the toxin from progressing further. Now begins the long road to recovery. Because botulism blocks nerve function, her body must slowly rebuild new nerve connections before her muscles regain strength.”
“Even through all of this, Trinity continues to show the same strength and resilience that helped her survive cancer twice as a child. She is already fighting hard every day to regain the basic abilities most of us take for granted — speaking, swallowing, and moving normally again,” it concludes.
Thoughts and prayers go out to Trinity and her family.
