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Dramatic holiday in Greece: Woman spent 42 days in a coma after a tick bite
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romania /Health & Science

Dramatic holiday in Greece: Woman spent 42 days in a coma after a tick bite

From Adevฤƒrul · () Romanian

Translated from Romanian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • A British woman experienced a severe health crisis after a tick bite during a vacation in Greece, leading to a 42-day coma.
  • Victoria Stellas suffered from flu-like symptoms that escalated to epileptic seizures, eventually diagnosed as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).
  • The illness has left her with lasting memory loss and epilepsy, significantly altering her life and ability to work.

A holiday in Greece turned into a life-altering ordeal for Victoria Stellas, a British woman who fell into a 42-day coma after being bitten by a tick. What began as flu-like symptoms during her 2019 vacation on the island of Syros escalated dramatically upon her return home to Wales.

I simply kept having seizures and nobody knew what was wrong with me.

โ€” Victoria StellasDescribing the initial, undiagnosed symptoms after her return from Greece.

Stellas experienced severe nighttime epileptic seizures, baffling doctors who were unable to diagnose her condition. After an MRI scan, she was airlifted to a hospital in Liverpool, where she was placed in an induced coma. Specialists later identified the cause as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), an inflammation of the brain caused by a virus that can be fatal.

It was an unusual infection and I think they didn't have the specialists needed to make this diagnosis.

โ€” Victoria StellasReflecting on the difficulty in diagnosing her condition.

Believing she was bitten while visiting her cousin's goat farm, Stellas, now 51, stated that she was unaware such a bite could have such grave consequences. The illness has profoundly changed her life, leading to significant memory loss and ongoing epilepsy. These cognitive difficulties resulted in her losing her job as a pub worker and her position as an educational assistant.

It completely changed my life.

โ€” Victoria StellasDescribing the long-term impact of the illness.

"What job is there that doesn't require memory? Everything you do in life requires memory. Shopping, work, travel," Stellas recounted to the BBC. She struggles to recall names, even of children she taught and colleagues, a problem that persists. Stellas now shares her story annually with students at Bangor University, hoping to raise awareness about the dangers of tick-borne diseases.

What job is there that doesn't require memory? Everything you do in life requires memory. Shopping, work, travel.

โ€” Victoria StellasExplaining the challenges posed by her memory loss.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Adevฤƒrul in Romanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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