A 16-year-old girl faces a partial-leg amputation after a common cold turned into pneumonia and a life-threatening infection in her blood.
Gianna Cirella complained of a sore throat during soccer practice on October 13.
But three days later her family rushed her to hospital, weak and spluttering, and scans revealed she had pneumonia in both of her lungs and sepsis, a dangerous blood infection.
The teenager from Warwick, Rhode Island, now lies strapped to machines at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence as doctors try to circulate her blood and keep her breathing.
The sepsis has blocked oxygen from reaching her right leg, so doctors are now preparing to amputate to prevent further complications.
