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Mother raising cash to help her Surrey daughter after lower leg amputated following spider bite

“It still seems surreal were it not for the agony we’ve been through as a family,” mother says
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Surrey spider bite victim, 21, in hospital. Her right leg was eventually amputated below her knee to stop the spread of flesh-eating bacteria. (Photo: gofundme.com

A young South Surrey woman who’s living a “medical nightmare” that’s suspected to have been caused by a spider bite is the subject of a couple of gofundme.com fundraisers aimed at helping her recovery after her right leg was amputated below her knee.

Rhonda Alvarez, who created the fundraisers, describes her 21-year-old daughter Chey’s horrific ordeal after the young woman was bitten by a brown recluse spider on her right ankle at her home in South Surrey on June 3rd.

“This began as a medical nightmare none of us could have comprehended before it happened, and even now, it still seems surreal were it not for the agony we’ve been through as a family, and Chey who must confront the unimaginable as a young woman whose life is now forever changed,” Alvarez shared on the fundraising website.

So far the Chey Hospital Support Care Fund, created June 24th, has raised $2,215 of its $3,500 goal and the Chey Recovery Fund created July 5 has raised $3,705 of its $25,000 goal.

Two days after Chey was bit, she was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, also known as the flesh-eating disease. She was put into an induced coma for nearly two weeks and her lower leg was amputated to stop the deadly bacteria from spreading.

“I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like this, and when you see it happening to your own child there are no words that can describe it,” Alvarez said. “In my deepest, darkest moments, what really got me through was words of prayer. Sometimes my prayer was ‘Help me,’ sometimes my prayer was ‘Thank you.’”

The family is trying to raise money for a prosthetic leg, a wheelchair, roho cushion, walker, special toilet and “many other unforeseen rehabilitation things.”

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com



About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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