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Woman's Strep Infection Leads To Sepsis, 'mummified' Hands And Feet, Amputation

As a veteran high school teacher, Sherri Moody is used to getting a cold about once a year. So when she started feeling sick on a field trip with her students, it wasn't a big deal.

But within days, the flu-like symptoms turned frightening. Moody was lethargic and running a high fever. She was throwing up and having trouble breathing.

Finally, she woke up her husband in the middle of the night and said she needed to go to the hospital.

"I've never gone to the ER before in my life," Moody, 51, who lives in suburban Houston, Texas, tells TODAY.Com. "I was very healthy, very in shape. I ate right, exercised."

Sherri Moody before the ordeal: She worked out five days a week and led a healthy lifestyle so a life-threatening infection was not on her radar.

Her husband, David, still remembers the "complete, utter shock" of what happened next. Doctors told him she had double pneumonia — an infection that affects both lungs — caused by Streptococcus bacteria.

That led to sepsis, the body's life-threatening response to infection, and septic shock, a dangerous drop in blood pressure and the most severe stage of sepsis, according to the Sepsis Alliance.

"I had to Google what sepsis was. I had no idea. We're pretty healthy people," David Moody, 53, tells TODAY.Com.

"I recognized real quick that we were in a severe situation. I was scared to pieces."

'The perfect storm'

Doctors don't know if Sherri Moody got infected with strep during that field trip to an amusement park in April 2023 or if the timing was just a coincidence, the couple says.

Up to 87% of sepsis cases start from infections people contract at work, school or home, the Sepsis Alliance notes. Even a kidney stone can lead to sepsis.

Two days after she went to the ER, her kidneys and lungs began shutting down, a complication of septic shock, David Moody recalls.

Making things worse was medication Sherri Moody had been taking for rheumatoid arthritis before the emergency. The drug eases symptoms of the autoimmune disorder by suppressing the immune system, which can lower a person's ability to fight infections.

Sherri Moody calls it "the perfect storm."

"It was like a category 5 hurricane coming in," David Moody adds. "She had nothing to fight with. It's like she went to war with no soldiers."

Doctors placed the teacher in a medically induced coma and she received powerful drugs in the intensive care unit, including vasopressors, which are used to combat dangerously low blood pressure, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

But when these medications pushed blood to her vital organs, it was at the expense of the circulation in her extremities. Within days, her limbs started changing colors, her husband recalls.

"I literally watched my wife's feet and hands die," David Moody says. "They were black and they were mummified."

Moody's extremities turned black in the hospital. "The doctor said, 'We're either going to save her life or we're going to save her limbs,'" her husband recalls. (Sherri Moody via TODAY)

When Sherri Moody was eased out of her coma, he told her that doctors saved her life, but they wouldn't be able to save her limbs. He cried, but she recalls feeling calm.

Her legs were amputated below the knee in June 2023 and her arms below the elbows the following month. She went home in August after spending four months in the hospital and a month in a rehabilitation facility.

'I just choose to be happy'

There have been many complications and follow-up surgeries that are delaying her ability to get prosthetics. A wound care nurse comes to the house three days a week, and there are constant doctor's appointments.

For now, the teacher uses an electric wheelchair to get around. She uses a band on her arm to insert a fork so she can eat. She's frustrated about losing her independence and not being able to do simple pleasures, like baking, but focuses on staying positive.

"She has not lost Sherri. She has not lost that personality," her husband says. (Sherri Moody via TODAY)

"I'm very mentally strong," Sherri Moody says. "I just choose to be happy. … It's not to say that I don't have a breakdown every now and then and just cry a little bit. I don't let it last long."

"She is just amazing. I've had more struggles," David Moody notes. "This is the most difficult thing that I've ever gone through in my life."

Next up is a complex surgery that aims to repair lingering problems with gangrene on her kneecaps. If it doesn't work, doctors will have to amputate her legs above the knees, which lowers her chances of being able to walk with prosthetics.

The couple is taking comfort in each other and the support of their community, which has rallied to help the family with fundraisers and updates on a Facebook page dedicated to Sherri Moody.

Sherri and David Moody are high school sweethearts. (Sherri Moody via TODAY)

"Both of us together talk about our blessings. We talk about the things that are going right in our day, in our lives," David Moody says.

"I'm a lot stronger than what I ever even thought I was," Sherri Moody adds.

This story first appeared on TODAY.Com. More from TODAY:

Teacher's Limbs Turned 'black And Mummified' After 'common Cold' Turns Into Deadly Septic Infection

Texas high school teacher Sherri Moody's routine field trip took a drastic turn when a severe infection led to quadruple amputations, leaving her battling for her life

Sherri Moody, a high school teacher, fell ill while on a routine field trip(Facebook)

A high school teacher had to go through quadruple amputations after her routine flu-like symptoms during a field trip turned into a dire medical emergency.

Sherri Moody, 51, a long-time educator who lives in suburban Houston, Texas, was accompanying her students on a field trip to an amusement park in April 2023, when she began feeling unwell. Initially attributing her symptoms to a typical seasonal cold, Sherri's condition rapidly deteriorated, alarming both her and her husband, David Moody.

The teacher's fever spiked, she struggled to breathe, and she was vomiting, until she decided to seek urgent medical attention. Sherri recalled: "I've never gone to the ER before in my life. I was very healthy, very in shape. I ate right, exercised..."

READ MORE: Covid 'pandemic babies' show 'fascinating' biological quirk and very beneficial trait, study finds

The infection progressed to sepsis and septic shock, endangering her life(Facebook)

Supported by her husband, Moody remains determined and optimistic(Facebook)

Doctors diagnosed her with double pneumonia, a severe lung infection caused by Streptococcus bacteria. But despite always being of robust health and fitness, the woman's immune system couldn't battle the infection that was progressing triggering sepsis and septic shock.

Her husband, David, described the "complete, utter shock" as doctors scrambled to stabilise his wife's deteriorating condition. He said: "I had to Google what sepsis was. I had no idea. We're pretty healthy people. I recognized real quick that we were in a severe situation. I was scared to pieces."

Within days, Sherri's kidneys and lungs began shutting down, as her condition was exacerbated by medication she was taking for rheumatoid arthritis, which eased symptoms of the autoimmune disorder by suppressing the immune system. David recalled her ideas as "like a category 5 hurricane coming in."

Moody was diagnosed with double pneumonia caused by Streptococcus bacteria(Facebook)

Doctors recommended quadruple amputations due to severe limb damage(Facebook)

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"She had nothing to fight with. It's like she went to war with no soldiers," he said. Sherri, who has a grown son, was placed in a medically induced coma as doctors treated her with drugs to attempt to return blood flow to her vital organs.

But that came at the expense of her arms and legs, with her limbs beginning to change colours. Her husband recalled: "I literally watched my wife's feet and hands die... They were black and they were mummified."

In a bid to save her life, doctors were left with no choice but to recommend quadruple amputations, which saw Sherri's arms and legs amputated below the elbow and knees.

Despite crying at first, Sherri said she felt calm despite the huge life change. Her amputations were carried out in June, 2023, with Sherri able to return home by August. Months of gruelling rehabilitation followed, punctuated by numerous setbacks and complications.

Despite her prior robust health, Moody's immune system struggled to fight the infection(Facebook)

'Indiana Jones' Actor Dies From Sepsis: Ahmed El-Shenawi Was 75

The actor also appeared in Alan Parker's 'Midnight Express,' Lars von Trier's 'The Element of Crime,' and 'The Thief of Baghdad.'

Egyptian-born actor Ahmed El-Shenawi, whose character served a "snake surprise" in Steven Spielberg's 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, has died. El-Shenawi passed away in Chelsea, London on Feb. 1 after developing an infection that led to sepsis after he underwent an operation to repair a fracture, his daughter, Eman El-Shenawi, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 75.

One of six siblings, El-Shenawi had a "very lively family life in Egypt," his daughter, Eman El-Shenawi, told THR. Her father worked as a head chef for Egyptair and five-star hotel restaurants, sparking El-Shenawi's "love for Christmas and Western holidays." In 1971, with a business degree from college, El-Shenawi relocated to London, where he began his entertainment career working for the BBC Arabic Service as an actor on a radio drama series. He would later become a member of the British Actors' Equity Association.

El-Shenawi's career spanned decades, but he was perhaps best known for his role in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Released in 1984, the actor notably beside Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott at a long banquet table, where he served them a "snake surprise." In the scene, El-Shenawi's character, wearing pearl necklaces and a thick black mustache, sliced open the belly of a large snake, only for several other live snakes to slither out. In a 2011 tribute, his daughter wrote that her father spoke "in a British-tinged articulate accent," and Spielberg "took note of his eloquent style, [telling him], 'Ahmed, you are a Shakespearean-type actor.'"

Apart from his role in Indiana Jones, El-Shenawi also starred in Midnight Express (1978), starring Brad Davis, as a prisoner who inherits a radio. His other credits include Lars von Trier's The Element of Crime (1984), the 1978 NBC miniseries adaptation of The Thief of Baghdad, the British television in The Professionals, Cannon and Ball, Muck and Brass, and Danger: Marmalade at Work, as well as Marmalade Atkins.

According to his daughter, El-Shenawi's acting career "came to an abrupt standstill" after he underwent a stomach-stapling operation to control his weight. The actor told his daughter, "my character as the 'chubby Arab man' changed, and the agency would not find as much work for me as it did before when I was big. But I was still thrilled that I could wear a better selection of suits!"

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