Ginny Duffy’s dream vacation in Aruba turned into a nightmare when she developed a potentially fatal, rapidly progressive bacterial disease.

Her ordeal landed her at Staten Island University Hospital’s Burn Center, where she was intubated for nearly three weeks, endured 17 surgeries and spent an additional two months in the hospital receiving intensive rehabilitation.

Ginny’s story started innocently enough. On the day before she and her boyfriend were set to return home from vacation, she frolicked in the ocean, swam in the hotel pool and relaxed in a hot tub. At some point during that time, Ginny contracted the rare, flesh-eating infection known as necrotizing fasciitis—possibly through a tiny cut on her leg.

“At about 10 o’clock that night, I started to experience the most excruciating severe pain inside of my left thigh,” Ginny explained. “I didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t sleep all night. I could hardly walk getting onto the plane.”

During the five-hour flight, the crew observed her moaning and in severe distress. They arranged to have a wheelchair ready for her when the plane landed. After disembarking, her boyfriend drove her from the airport to Staten Island University Hospital, where they stabilized her with pain medication and antibiotics and sent her to the Burn Center.

There, plastic surgeon and director of the Burn Center Michael Cooper, MD, performed the first of many surgeries to stop the infection and save her life. This involved removing a large amount of infected skin and tissue, which left Ginny with a large pita-pocket-like hole in her upper left thigh. Once there was no more infection, skin grafting was performed to replace the missing skin.

“I woke up and I realized most of my leg was gone,” Ginny recalled. “I couldn’t believe how bad it was.”

She was taken daily to the Burn Center’s hydrotherapy room so the affected area of her leg could be cleaned and treated. Physical therapy was also started to help her regain mobility.

For Ginny, a retired NYPD officer who worked as a personal and group trainer at the YMCA, refereed women’s high school and college basketball, and who regularly skied, hiked and swam, the impact of her injury was devastating.

“The first time I stood up and tried to use the walker, everybody in the burn unit clapped. They were calling me their miracle because they didn’t think I was going to survive,” Ginny said.

Slowly, she regained some of her strength and was transferred for more intense physical and occupational rehabilitation. Three weeks later, Ginny was discharged from the hospital just as the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Within weeks, the pandemic shut down Ginny’s hope for starting outpatient physical therapy. It also canceled a fundraiser organized by her many friends to help with her mounting medical bills.

Undeterred, Ginny drew on her knowledge of exercise and did her own daily workout routine. Over the next few months, she was able to work up to walking 2 miles a day and lifting light weights.

But Ginny wasn’t sure if she’d ever resume her very active lifestyle—especially her favorite hobby: skiing. Adding to her concern was the unsightly look of her leg that was ravaged by the infection.

After some time, Ginny underwent the first of two reconstructive surgeries performed by Alfred Culliford, MD, a reconstructive and plastic surgeon at Staten Island University Hospital, to normalize the appearance of her leg.

“This infection really destroyed all the skin, fat and some muscle on her inner leg, so it really looked like an anatomy dissection,” Dr. Culliford explained. “You could put your hand underneath her bone through her thigh.”

To aesthetically repair the area and improve her quality of life, Dr. Culliford took muscle and connective tissue from Ginny’s abdomen and brought it down like a flap to reconstruct her thigh. Mesh was then used to recreate the abdominal wall where the tissue was removed in order to prevent a hernia.

The surgeries sidelined Ginny once again, requiring her to be immobile for several weeks and rebuild her strength.

“When you see her walk now, she walks essentially pretty normal,” Dr. Culliford said. “That’s phenomenal for this stage after surgery.”

Ginny’s progress has been so good that she’s set a goal—with Dr. Culliford’s encouragement—to get back on the ski slopes in the coming months.

“You have to live life to the fullest,” Ginny said. “I’m lucky to be alive.”