After having a baby, 24-year-old Cassandra Campbell started a new career working alongside her dad as a tattoo artist in Michigan. Around the time that she started her new job, she visited her doctor for a bug bite. Cassandra was sent home with several precautionary antibiotic prescriptions, but her condition only worsened.
When Cassandra Campbell noticed the tiny mark on her body, she thought nothing of it. After all, it was the kind of spot that might have been caused by something as innocent as a bug bite. But there was no way she could’ve predicted what lay ahead.
In the summer of 2014 Campbell was a new mother living her life to the full in West Michigan. As well as having recently given birth, she was also working on her new business, a tattoo parlor. It was an exciting time for her.
One day in July, it is thought that Campbell suffered an insect bite. As a result, it seems, she soon developed a rash. “She was nursing at the time, so we got antibiotics, and they put her on two different ones,” her mom, Cindy Shoemaker, told news channel WXMI-TV in August 2014.
Campbell and her family assumed that the rash would clear up within days and life would return to normal. However, sadly, this was not the case. In fact, as the days went by, her condition worsened. What had started as a mere rash was followed by an array of other flu-like symptoms.
This change happened after Campbell had been put on a course of medication prescribed for her rash. Neither she nor her family had any idea what lay behind the mystery illness, but her condition worsened as the days went by.
Campbell visited hospital twice over the next few days to receive treatment for her rash and flu-like symptoms. However, things only got worse as she lay at home.
Indeed, her condition continued to deteriorate. “I got a call from her boyfriend saying she couldn’t see. Her eyes were all matted shut, and she couldn’t walk on her feet,” said Shoemaker.
At this point, Campbell was taken to hospital. Doctors scrambled to find out what was causing the symptoms. However, at first, medics had no idea what was to blame for her blistering skin.
