Warning as mum, 40, loses all four limbs after eating under-cooked fish for dinner

LAURA Barajas couldn’t have imagined that the simple act of cooking herself dinner would take her life into an “unexpected and devastating turn”.

The 40-year-old mother of one purchased tilapia fish at her local market in San Jose, California last month.

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She cooked it for herself and ate it for dinner at the end of a long day.

“Little did she know that this simple act would change her life forever,” her friend Anna Messina wrote in a GoFundMe post shared on her behalf.

The next day, Laura knew something was “terribly wrong.”

She then spent over a month fighting for her life in hospital, where she was diagnosed with a dangerous bacterial infection called Vibrio vulnificus, which medics believe was caused by eating the fish.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned this month that five people had died from the “flesh-eating” disease after coming into contact with contaminated water on America’s East Coast.

The deadly species of bacteria lives in coastal waters and can infect people if they eat raw or undercooked seafood or expose an open wound or scratch to contaminated water.

According to the CDC, “above-average coastal sea surface temperatures” observed this summer have caused the species to thrive on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

Anna told News19 that Laura almost lost her life fighting the horrific infection and was put into a medically induced coma.

“Her fingers were black, her feet were black, her bottom lip was black,” the mother’s friend said.

“She had complete sepsis and her kidneys were failing.”

Laura lost all of her limbs to the infection when she underwent a quadruple amputation to save her life, Anna said.

“It was just a heavy burden for all of us. It’s terrible. This could have happened to any of us,” she added.

Anna has set up a GoFundMe to support Laura, her partner and their son who are suffering from these devastating developments.

“This family desperately needs our help,” she wrote.

“The mounting hospital bills are overwhelming and Laura’s physical condition will require significant changes to her life as she adapts to her new circumstances.”

She emphasized that what happened to Laura could happen to anyone.

According to the CDC, Vibrio vulnificus is “known to cause life-threatening infections.”

“Approximately 150 to 200 Vibrio vulnificus infections are reported to the CDC each year, and approximately one in five people with this infection die – sometimes within one to two days of becoming ill,” it said.

According to the health department, the first symptoms include:

• Watery diarrhea
• Stomach cramps
• nausea
• Fever and chills
• Blistering of the skin, which may appear as black dots
• Low blood pressure
• Pain, swelling, or warmth around an infected wound

The infection is usually treated with antibiotics, but sometimes amputation is necessary to remove dead or infected tissue.