Nagging pain.
As a dancer, that is what Olivia Kiger-Camilo has grown accustomed to since she first started lessons at the age of 5.
This was different. This really hurt. And then it got gross. Like, “science fiction from a horror movie” gross.
“I was in a dance competition, but when I stopped dancing this time, I started to feel something different. I was in a lot of pain, and I told my parents immediately,” Kiger-Camilo said. “It wasn’t a normal kind of pain, and trust me; dancers usually are in a constant state of pain. But this … this was different. This was really sharp, and, like I said, it really hurt.
“It really did feel as if someone was stabbing my foot,” she explained. “And it really hurt at the very beginning, but it just kept getting worse. The pain grew and grew and grew, and it really started to scare me.”
After Oliva’s parents transported her to the emergency room at Wheeling Hospital, identifying the issue was an issue, so that is why the Linsly School junior was quickly life-flighted to WVU Medicine’s Children’s Hospital in Morgantown.
“It was frustrating not knowing what is wrong with your children. It may have been the most frustrating thing I’ve ever experienced,” admitted Rebecca Kiger. “And honestly, just before they told us she was getting life-flighted to Children’s, I was about to lose my shit.
“I can describe the fear,” she said. “But any parent ever in that situation knows exactly how I felt at that moment. I needed to know she was going to be OK, and I was a complete mess until a doctor told me just that … that my daughter was going to be OK.”
It Eats the Flesh
Nec·ro·tiz·ing Fas·ci·i·tis
1. an acute disease in which inflammation of the fasciae of muscles or other organs results in rapid destruction of overlying tissues.
According to a Google search:
What is necrotising fasciitis?
Necrotising fasciitis, also known as the “flesh-eating disease,” is a rare and life-threatening infection that can happen if a wound gets infected. It needs to be treated in the hospital straight away.
And “straight away” is exactly what the medical team at Children’s Hospital accomplished when Kiger-Camilo arrived in Morgantown, but it took time and much more than a magical medication.
“I know I was moments away at one point from multiple organ failure and death. The fact that I was able to get to WVU Children’s Hospital in time and that they were able to take immediate action is simply a miracle,” she said. “Once the disease was under control, I started to treat my own legs, and it wasn’t pretty. I could see the bones of my foot because there was no skin covering them. But after I learned how to care for myself, it was fascinating.”
Yes, bare bones. Her actual skeleton.
“It didn’t scare me for some reason, though, and I really enjoyed taking care of myself because that meant I could regulate the amount of pain that I was in,” she said. “But also the human body is very fascinating and complex, and it was really incredible to watch my body regenerate right in front of my face. Over weeks and a couple of months, my body grew new tissue to cover my body.”
According to the federal Center for Disease Control, fewer than 10,000 cases of necrotizing fasciitis are reported each year in the United States despite the fact it is caused by the same germs that infect folks with streptococcus.
“That’s because this disease is actually everywhere because it’s the same thing that causes people to get strep throat. The body is able to combat it when it’s in your throat, but once it gets into a wound like I had on my foot from dancing, it festers and literally eats the tissue, facia, muscle, and everything else it gets to,” Kiger-Camilo explained. “But I have no idea how it made it into the wound on my foot.
“The treatment I received at WVU’s Children’s Hospital was very aggressive because they knew what they were battling and how to battle it,” she said. “There were multiple surgeries, and I was placed on a ventilator for a bit, but in the end they saved my life, and they were great and kind people all at the same time.”
A Parade of People
She believes she recalls dancing as soon as she could walk, and Kiger-Camilo knows those first dance lessons took place before first grade. Over the years, it became her way of life.
“My best friends dance,” she said. “Dance has shaped me into the person I am. It’s taught me work ethic, about commitment, and it’s a great source of joy for me.”
Those dance friends, the entire Linsly community, and thousands more from the Wheeling area took to social media to post support, and they raised funds and sent her cards and letters to make Kiger-Camilo aware of the prayers and well wishes.
“The reaction from the community was overwhelming. It was the most incredible display of what community can be,” the soon-to-be-senior insisted. “The letters, gifts, messages, and videos of people demonstrating how much they care about me. It was incredible, and that support helped me so much. It made the hospital easier because I knew I had an army of people behind me.
“And I really hope that people realize that, if they are in West Virginia and there is something really serious medically happening to you or a loved one, get to Morgantown. Get to Children’s Hospital,” she urged. “Those people are incredible, and they will help you to the best of their abilities.”
Bob Contraguerro Jr., vice president of Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration, is a member of the community supporting Kiger-Camile with his prayers and his company’s financial support. Panhandle Cleaning, in fact, is the presenting sponsor of this Saturday’s Saints & Sinner Party on the Plaza, an event that features hours of live entertainment, food trucks, and beer and wine with the proceeds flowing toward a $150,000 commitment to WVU Medicine’s Children’s Hospital.
The Saints & Sinners raised a total of $35,000 last July with the inaugural Party on the Plaza.
“WVU’s Children’s Hospital is a big deal to us here at Panhandle, and that’s why we really get behind their efforts to open this new hospital for the people of this state,” he explained. “That means if there is a family in Wheeling that needs their child to get some of the best care they can get in this country, they just have to go to Morgantown and not another part of the country.
“The folks from the Saints & Sinners asked us if we would be interested in a multi-year commitment if they would commit the funds from those years going to the Children’s Hospital, so that is how that commitment came about,” he said. “It’s a five-year period, and all of us are going to do our best to meet that $150,000 commitment so our families in this area can benefit from that care when it is needed the most.”
