The illness is extremely rare. On average, two dozen adults are diagnosed each year in the U.S. according to doctors.
PHOENIX — A Valley woman is recovering from a rare and life-threatening illness that many doctors only read about in medical textbooks.
Trinity Peterson-Mayes, 24, was perfectly healthy just weeks ago. But a meal with friends last month left her nearly paralyzed.
Peterson-Mayes, a wedding planner, said everything changed after she tried her friend’s homemade fermented swordfish.
“It tasted horrible, I’m going to be so honest,” she said.
“It’s supposed to be healthy and I figured I might as well try, if it’s bad and I’ll just get a bad stomach ache.”
Within days, she said she began noticing something frightening.
“I noticed that when I was chugging water, I wouldn’t be able to chug it. It was going down the wrong pipe, and then 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,” Peterson-Mayes said.
After nearly choking on a sip of coffee, she rushed to the hospital. At first, doctors were unsure what was wrong.
“They wanted to send me home after the first hospital I went to,” she said.
Peterson-Mayes insisted something wasn’t right. After being transferred for specialized neurological care at St. Joseph’s Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute, doctors diagnosed her with botulism.
“Botulism is extremely rare, and most emergency physicians go their whole career without seeing a case,” said emergency physician Dr. Frank LoVecchio.
Botulism is caused by a bacteria produced toxin that can grow in low-oxygen environments, including improperly canned foods.
“It’s a neurological toxin which can cause blurred vision,” LoVecchio said.
“It causes this paralysis of your muscles, and most important being, you know, your chest muscles, those that are responsible for breathing.”
As the toxin spread, Peterson-Mayes’ condition worsened and she was eventually placed on a ventilator.
“I woke up and I had three IVs. 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,” she said.
A life-saving antitoxin was administered and Peterson-Mayes is now beginning the slow process of recovery.
“I wasn’t able to talk before. I wasn’t able to walk,” she said.
Peterson-Mayes said five other friends also ate the fermented swordfish. Two of them developed botulism as well.
Foodborne botulism cases are extremely rare.
“In the United States, there’s about two dozen cases per year on average of food botulism,” LoVecchio said.
Peterson-Mayes said her friends are now out of the hospital. She expects to leave Barrow in about a week, but said it could take months before she feels normal again.
She is no stranger to medical battles. Peterson-Mayes previously survived childhood cancer twice.
“Everyone here at rehab is amazing,” she said. “I feel like I built a little family here.”
An online fundraiser has been started to help cover medical bills and living expenses.
As for her diet going forward, seafood may be off the menu for a while.
“I am scared of sushi now too. Canned food, sushi, I don’t know about that anymore.”
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