"My skin, hair and nails FELL OFF after I was bitten by a mosquito in Caribbean"
Credit: SWNS
A woman had a holiday from hell after her skin peeled off and her hair and nails fell off when she was bitten by a tiger mosquito in the Caribbean.
Amy Wells, 37, got a huge rash over her whole body after the bite and was treated with antibiotics.
But they reacted with a medicine she was already taking and within days the skin all over her body blistered - leaving her looking like she'd been badly burned.
She had to take ten weeks off work and has been left with scars all over her lower legs.
A woman had a holiday from hell after her skin peeled off and her hair and nails fell off when she was bitten by a tiger mosquito in the Caribbean.
Amy Wells, 37, got a huge rash over her whole body after the bite and was treated with antibiotics.
But they reacted with a medicine she was already taking and within days the skin all over her body blistered - leaving her looking like she'd been badly burned.
She had to take ten weeks off work and has been left with scars all over her lower legs.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00My hands, they peeled, my nails and my toenails also fell off.
00:04I was going completely bald on top.
00:06It was like a snake shedding.
00:09My name is Amy Wells, I'm 37 and I'm from Ashford in Kent.
00:15I went on holiday to the Dominican Republic for 10 days.
00:19I believe a tiger mosquito bit me.
00:21The initial rash that I developed started on my neck,
00:26made its way all the way down my body.
00:29Across my arms.
00:31It looked like heat rash to start with.
00:34It then expanded to increase across my body.
00:37Although I was wearing mosquito repellent, I was still being bitten.
00:41We went to the hospital in the Dominican Republic
00:44and there was a language barrier.
00:47It was missed out that I'd been on amoxicillin for tooth infection.
00:52I was then given ceftriaxone, which is an antibiotic
00:56and that then caused the reaction with the amoxicillin.
00:59I'd stopped taking the amoxicillin three days into the holiday,
01:03that's when it had ended, but it was still in my system.
01:06Flew home and when we landed, my skin was burning
01:12and my legs had started to swell.
01:14We went to Flemish Emergent Treatment Centre,
01:17who took one look at me and said,
01:20no, you've got to go to A&E.
01:21And within a couple of hours of being at A&E,
01:24the blisters had moved all the way down my arms,
01:26across my belly and across my chest at this point.
01:29And the rash had moved onto my legs.
01:32I have to say, it was probably the scariest moment
01:37is when you realise that they don't know what it is.
01:41Because it was so rare, it was so uncommon.
01:44I got asked if I'd been burnt, if I'd had acid thrown on me.
01:48And it was only when the junior doctors looked at my legs
01:51and could see the puncture wounds
01:53that with medical history of the Dominican Republic
01:58decided that actually it was an adverse reaction to a mosquito bite,
02:03was the initial cause of the rash.
02:05And then this ended up being a reaction to the medicines
02:08that they gave me on holiday as well.
02:10But it was pretty terrifying.
02:12So as with any blisters, they pop,
02:15I would be sitting there and suddenly you would feel liquid
02:19from the blisters running down your arms
02:21because it was 100% of my body.
02:23There was so much liquid coming out, you start feeling dirty.
02:26It's the only way I can describe it.
02:28My hands, they peeled as well.
02:30It was like a snake shedding is how the skin came off.
02:35It was fresh baby skin underneath
02:37and then the rest of the body followed suit
02:40and the face peeled as well.
02:42So my legs were a complication
02:44but they developed open wounds underneath the skin
02:47which then created an infection risk.
02:50So I was moved to an isolation room for a week
02:53whilst they started to heal.
02:55Unfortunately, they didn't heal fully.
02:58So when I was discharged, I still had skin attached to my legs.
03:01So I ended up having to have daily leg dressings.
03:04I started noticing that my hair was falling out.
03:07By May, I was going completely bald on top.
03:11Luckily, it has grown back.
03:13My nails and my toenails also fell off.
03:15Losing my hair was one of the hardest out of the whole illness, I think,
03:19because it is what identifies you.
03:22And the hair grew back curly, very curly,
03:25and a completely different colour to what it was when I was little as well.
03:30So it's been a very, very long journey.
03:33Myself and my now husband, it was his first ever holiday abroad
03:37and he has been my rock and my support throughout the whole of this.
03:41Honestly, I wouldn't be the person I am today
03:45and as resilient as I am today
03:47without him and his support throughout all of this.
03:50So much so that we decided to bring forward the wedding
03:53and we got married in October last year.
03:56So my advice is definitely have travel insurance.
04:00Our bill came to over £5,000 for the two nights
04:03and we wouldn't have been able to afford it without the travel insurance.
04:06Always wear mosquito repellent day and night.
04:09Make sure that you are open and honest with any of the antibiotics,
04:15any of the pain relief that you're taking.
04:17Whatever life throws at you, you can deal with
04:20as long as you've got the support of those around you.
04:23Your hair doesn't define you as a person.
04:26As much as I felt that it did, it doesn't define you as a person.
04:29My reaction was one in a million, so it won't happen to everybody.
04:33But if it does, just know that there is support out there for you.
04:45For more information visit www.fema.gov