110 W. New York Ave., DeLand, FL
386-734-4622
By Jen Horton
posted Feb 8, 2009 - 10:02:05am
Kate Swiderski, a vivacious 18-year-old, looks like an American sweetheart. She’s bubbly and hopeful about the future.
But under her T-shirt and jeans are scars and the heart of a warrior.
In the summer of 2008, Kate survived a motorcycle accident that left her with a broken left femur, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis and broken finger, a broken right arm, and extensive road rash.
She needed 10 units of blood during multiple surgeries that followed the horrific July crash.
Kate was hospitalized for four weeks. She would have finished her first semester of cosmetology school two days after the crash; instead, she was bedridden for nearly three months, until Oct. 1.
After two weeks at Halifax Health Medical Center and two more in a rehabilitative hospital, Kate was sent home to learn to walk again.
The teen said she didn’t expect that to be a big deal. It was. A short walk on her first attempt left her exhausted. She worked with family members to increase her endurance.
Kate said she used to take so much for granted: running, jumping, just walking across the room. Now, she’s grateful for every step.
Another challenge
When the fear they had lost Kate in a motorcycle crash finally began to fade, the Swiderski family faced another deadly challenge.
A few days after Kate began to walk again, she went for a ride with a friend on his four-wheeler. Full recovery seemed within reach.
The next day, Kate was lifeless and running a high fever. Her leg was severely swollen.
It was MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant super staph infection.
Mayo Clinic’s Web site says “MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It’s a strain of staph that’s resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. MRSA can be fatal.”
She was hospitalized again. There were more surgeries.
Kate fought the deadly enemy, and once again proved she is a survivor.
Through her journey, her family changed forever. The way the Swiderski family views life, and the way her family trusts in God, will never be the same.
Her family talks
The Swiderskis of DeLand are 20-year-old John, 18-year-old Kate, and their parents, Mary and Paul Swiderski.
Paul Swiderski is vice president of Southern Paint. Mary is executive director of the Volusia Council of Governments, commonly called VCOG, and of the Volusia League of Cities. John is a painter.
The family gathered recently, along with Kate’s boyfriend Nick Cyphers, 18, and John’s girlfriend, Sarah Naga, 18, at the Swiderski home to talk about their journeys — individually and as a family — in the wake of the crash that changed all their lives.
“We were blessed,” Mary said. “I learned to trust God completely. I was able to witness a lot of miracles.”
Mary said God was with the family along every step of the journey. Acts of providence abounded.
Just before the accident, Mary had been able to set up a home office and had begun working from home.
“Because of that, I was able to be by her side and not miss work,” Mary said.
Mary and Paul were with their daughter around the clock.
“Our bonds with Kate definitely grew stronger,” Mary said.
The accident
John Swiderski had always wanted a motorcycle. Two weeks after he got one, he took Kate for a trip to the gas station.
Mary recounted the incident.
“John and Kate were on U.S. Highway 92. Just under the I-4 overpass, John moved over to the left lane to pass the two vehicles in front of him. As John drove forward, the front vehicle in the right lane moved over into the left lane. He did not see John.”
The car and the motorcycle collided. John flew off the bike and landed on the car’s windshield. Kate went in the opposite direction.
“All I remember is, we went to go get gas,” Kate said. “I had, like, five bucks.”
She paused for a moment.
“I remember he [John] told me to hold on,” Kate said.
The next thing Kate recalls is opening her eyes in the ambulance, then opening her eyes again in the hospital.
John only remembers being worried about his sister, Kate.
When Mary and Paul arrived at the hospital, they were told their children had survived because they had been wearing helmets and riding jackets.
“The helmets saved their lives,” Mary said.
MRSA
After Kate was released from Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Paul and Mary moved out of their bedroom so Kate would have the space she needed.
Paul slept on the couch in the living room, so he could be close in case Kate needed anything at night.
Kate’s parents were with her every hour of the day, fighting with her for her recovery.
“We were always with her,” Paul said.
Because of that closeness, Paul and Mary said, they recognized something was wrong when Kate developed MRSA.
“We were always by her side, caring for her,” Mary said. “We kept journals of her medicines so we could tell the doctor if anything was wrong, right away.”
Kate had open wounds from road rash on her lower back. On Oct. 1, doctors had removed Kate’s exterior fixator, a piece of equipment that helped keep Kate’s body together after surgery. Mary thinks Kate may have contracted the infection when the exterior fixator was removed.
After almost three months of being confined to her bed, young Kate was anxious to get out and move.
Barely able to walk again, she went four-wheeling with a friend. The next day, she was tired.
At first, both her parents and her doctor thought the fatigue was from the four-wheeling.
“I can understand how it [MRSA] can be overlooked,” Mary said.
As Kate’s symptoms became progressively worse, her parents became more worried.
“We were so in tune with her at that point,” Mary said. “We knew something was wrong.”
It was MRSA. Kate was hospitalized again.
While Kate was back at Halifax Health Medical Center fighting the potentially deadly infection, doctors discovered her right arm had also been broken in the motorcycle crash and not set.
So Kate went through another surgery to drain her infected leg, and her arm was broken and fixed with a plate and pins.
It took Kate another six weeks to recover.
A brother’s struggle
John Swiderski escaped the motorcycle accident with lacerations to his right arm. His emotional struggle to heal has been much more painful than his injuries.
“It haunts me every day,” John said.
John was driving the motorcycle. He said it was hard to deal with the pain his sister endured.
He said he suspected his relationship with his sister may have been damaged by his feelings of guilt.
He paused and looked at his sister.
“Things happen, mistakes happen, but it tore me apart,” John said. “I have to live with the fact I’m the one that tore my sister apart.”
The room was quiet for a moment, and the love and forgiveness the Swiderski family members have for each other was so strong it was almost tangible to an outside observer.
Still, getting past the memory of the crash is rough. The site of the accident is on a route the Swiderskis frequently travel.
“I go past it every day,” John said. “It sucks. I would never wish that on anybody.”
The saving grace was their protective equipment.
“We wore the right gear,” John said.
John said they always wear helmets, and Kate was also wearing a riding jacket — which has reinforced plates to keep riders safe in the event of a crash.
John wasn’t the only person dealing with guilt.
“I helped my son get the bike. I felt very responsible for all this,” Mary said.
Coming together
Just after the crash, as Kate was being prepared for surgery, Mary stood in the hallway at Halifax Health Medical Center.
“I started to cry. A little janitor came over and said, ‘Let me pray over you,’” Mary said.
The janitor prayed with her, then prayed over Kate.
Mary learned the power of prayer firsthand.
“I think we had just about every church in DeLand praying for us,” Mary said.
The experience also helped Kate in her spiritual walk.
“Kate didn’t really want to believe,” Mary said. “Now she believes.”
“A lot of people prayed for me,” Kate said.
Paul said Kate plans to give back.
While she was still in recovery, and in a lot of pain, motorcycle-accident victims who had recovered stopped by to tell Kate about their experiences.
They told her she might feel despair right now, but she would get through it.
Kate said those people gave her a lot of inspiration. She knows what that can mean to a person in pain.
She looks forward to passing that inspiration along.
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No one may touch your daughter without first washing hands and then putting gloves on. Make sure ther do not touch anythig else. No pens, nothing.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health care-associated infections account for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths each year in American hospitals. Over the years, the bacteria, identified as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), have grown increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
I receive MRSA Alerts on my computer every day. There is “an alarming nationwide increase” in the prevalence of MRSA infections in children. The reason I follow up on MRSA Alerts is because I am also a very concerned parent and want to see more being done to safeguard our children and educators. So, I am going to all local and private schools, hospitals and nursing homes in my area offering free demonstrations.
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Our family was viciously attacked by MRSA and we nearly lost all of our lives.
We almost lost our oldest son to it within 72 hrs.
MRSA also attacked my youngest son and myself.
The boils that my son's had grew to the size of small grapefruits and destroy the flesh in the surrounding area.
As you can imagine we were horrified. We sought out medical intervention and antibiotics failed to help. our doctor threw several antibiotics at my son's infection. The antibiotics failed to keep the infection from coming back.
After speaking to an infectious disease doctor, doing my own research and networking with others struggling with MRSA,
I came to the conclusion that MRSA is rapidly evolving and becoming resistant to all antibiotics.
At that point we decided to run from this vicious cycle of throwing antibiotics at an antibiotic resistant infection.
We prayed and researched until we found something that would save our family.
MRSA was literally eating away at us and what we found stopped MRSA from killing us. It is called Allimed, stable allicin.
This is the first time in history that allicin in garlic has been stabilized.
Since we used Allimed we did not need further medical care though we informed our doctors of our decision and continued under their observation.
We dealt with MRSA ourselves and have not had it return for any of us in 3 years.
Before using Allimed the boils were coming every few weeks.
If we are to survive this era of resistant bacteria, then we will have to think outside the box. What once saved us from infections (antibiotics), is now killing us. The very nature of antibiotics encourage bacterial resistance.
Shortly after Penicillin was discovered, bacteria became resistant and now we find ourselves in the vicious cycle of throwing more and more antibiotics at resistant bacteria. http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/795_antibio.html
We must see that the era of antibiotic success is now leaving us. If we don't have our eyes wide open, mankind may not survive this pandemic.
I hope our story will help to save lives as our family was saved.
Since our family's recovery, we have been helping others to recover worldwide.
I welcome emails from anyone who wants our help.
God bless, Cathy
Cathy@optimalhealthusa.com
Our MRSA recovery and more info: http://optimalhealthusa.com/
Scientific Research Files:
Current news reports regarding stable allicin:
250 people recover from MRSA using stable Allicin:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365884,00.html
Current news reports regarding stable allicin:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7531978.stm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj6C6aEyrYk
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KSObBa5b0Bw&feature=related
EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/eccmid15/abstract.asp?id=37436
Abstract, Dr. Ronald Cutler:
http://optimalhealthusa.com/files/ALLICIN_MRSA_DRCutler_Paper_1_.pdf
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