Influencer fighting for her life in ICU after contracting terrifying brain infection on vacation
An Aussie influencer is fighting for her life in a Bali hospital after suddenly contracting a deadly brain infection during the trip of a lifetime.Gold Coast-based fitness creator and online coach Khiana Smith, 23, had been traveling through Europe for two weeks before arriving in Bali for a week, when she suddenly fell severely ill.The health-conscious influencer told news.com.au that she “never expected” to find herself in this nightmare, sharing that she’s been bedridden in the intensive care unit for eight days with both bacterial and viral meningitis, hospital-contracted pneumonia and fluid on her lungs.Medical staff currently have no idea how she contracted the illness, noting it could have been from contaminated food, water she was swimming in, or even a fellow passenger on a flight.“I don’t know what happened, like I seriously don’t, I just woke up one day and I just had the worst headache, like I couldn’t even get out of bed,” she explained.She knew something was seriously wrong when she began experiencing “extreme head pains, dizziness, slurred speech, slurred vision, and a severe sensitivity to light.”Bacterial meningitis is a severe, rapidly-progressing infection of the membranes protecting the brain and spinal cord that can be life-threatening if not treated immediately.After a villa IV drip failed to manage her intense symptoms, an ambulance rushed her to a Bali International Hospital within minutes.Her terrified mother, Cass Smith, caught the first available flight to Indonesia upon hearing the news.“There is nothing more terrifying than knowing your child is fighting for her life in a foreign country and you’re thousands of kilometers away, unable to hold her hand,” she told news.com.au in an exclusive interview.Despite the stress of being in a foreign hospital and navigating a language barrier, the family praised the Indonesian medical staff for their efforts.Smith was given a CT scan and connected to an antibiotic drip wit...