An ‘Angel’ among students

Biology major Abigail Wold loves shoes.

High heels and wedges are her favorites. She loves shoes so much that she has special prosthetics with adjustable feet so she can wear heels up to two inches.

"I love wearing heels," she said. "My doctors don't like it when I wear heels but, hey, they wouldn't make prosthetic feet that you could wear heels with if you weren't supposed to."

Wold, 28, has to wear prosthetics on both her legs from the knee down because she contracted meningitis five years ago. The disease prompted the amputation of her legs below the knee and of two of her fingers at the first joint on her left hand.

Abigail's mother Heidi Wold said that, though her daughter was in a coma for two weeks and in the hospital for a few months, her personality was not changed by the experience.

"She's pretty much a happy, energetic person," Heidi said. "Really and truly, even before and after, that part of her hasn't changed."

A small chance of survival

Before she contracted meningitis, Abigail was a healthy girl who had never even had stitches.

When she was 22 years old, Abigail wanted a change. She had spent a few years at Hillsborough Community College and working at Bank of America, but felt she wasn't going anywhere. So, she joined the Army.

Two days before she was supposed to depart for boot camp, Abigail started to feel ill. She had a headache and started throwing up at a party. Her friends decided to take her home, where she fell asleep.

When Abigail woke up, she was in immobilizing pain. She decided to go the hospital and, while her friend was helping her get dressed, she noticed little rashes all over Abigail's body that looked like hickeys. She knew the rashes could be a symptom of meningitis, and rushed Abigail to the hospital.

Meningitis, also known as meningococcal disease, is a serious and potentially fatal bacterial infection. Almost 3,000 people in the United States contract the disease every year and about 12 percent of them die from it. Of those who survive, about 20 percent suffer long-term consequences such as kidney disease, brain damage or limb amputations.

Her friend called Abigail's mother, who is a nurse, right away. Heidi said she was shocked when she got the voicemail on her cell phone.

"My heart at that point just about stopped," she said.

Heidi rushed to the hospital with her son and husband. She said she was slightly relieved because Abigail was alert and talking.

"She was still talking a mile a minute," Heidi said.

Though she was talking, it wasn't all good news. Abigail wasn't producing any urine, which was a bad sign, Heidi said.

Within the next 24 hours, Abigail had nine surgeries. Her health went up and down, and no one was sure of her chances of survival.

By this point, Abigail had slipped into a coma.

A close call

After about 24 hours, the nurses told Heidi and her family to go home and get some sleep. Heidi had not slept nor had she left Abigail's side. She left reluctantly, but received a phone call from the hospital only 45 minutes later.

"The nurse said, ‘You need come right away, the doctor needs to speak to you. Abigail is dying,'" Heidi said.

Abigail's family rushed back to the hospital and prayed. One of Abigail's veins had collapsed and doctors were having problems giving her the medication that could save her life.

Twenty minutes later, doctors were able to get a line in and stabilize Abigail.

After the incident, Heidi said she would hardly leave the hospital.

Staying strong

The next few months were not only trying for Abigail, but also for her family. Initially, no one was sure if she would survive.

"Realistically and statistically, she knew there wasn't a chance that I would survive," Abigail said of her mother.

Heidi's experience as a burn nurse helped when her daughter became ill. Though Heidi knew certain ways to help her daughter — such as lowering the pressure in Abigail's brain and turning her so she did not get bed sores — it was difficult to cope with her daughter's near-death state.

"If I fell apart and started crying, it would be really hard on my husband and my son," Heidi said.

Abigail's aunt and nephew came to Florida to support her. Because her aunt was a pediatric nurse, she was able to help.

"I think the strength of the family probably helped her even more," Heidi said.

Abigail agreed and credited their support with keeping her positive.

"I had a lot of people praying for me," she said.

‘Can I be 8 feet tall?'

Over the next few months, Abigail went through nine surgeries in an attempt to save her legs.

At one point, however, Abigail felt they could not be salvaged. She said she would have let the doctors amputate after the first surgery.

"The reality set in for me probably sooner than it did for anyone else," she said. But the surgeons wanted to keep trying.

After the seventh surgery, and under the recommendation of the orthopedic surgeon, she told the doctors to amputate them.

"That was the decision, and I never looked back," she said. "It just wasn't worth it to me."