TORONTO — A woman from Belle River, Ont., has died after contracting group A streptococcal infection after the birth of her second child.
Stacey Harris, 30, died Monday after a weeks-long battle.
A GoFundMe page set up for the young mother, titled Stacey’s Recovery, has raised nearly $50,000, far ahead of its goal of $15,000. The page details the woman’s illness.
Harris gave birth to her second daughter, Harper, on April 9. According to the page, shortly after arriving home from the birth she “felt severely ill and was sent to the hospital and put into an induced coma to help her fight off the infection of Strep Group A.”
She was then transferred to a London, Ont. hospital “to receive the best care possible.”
There have been conflicting reports as to exactly what caused her death.
The Windsor Star reported that while at London Health Sciences Centre she was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, often referred to as “flesh-eating disease.” BlackburnNews.com said the family clarified her cause of death as toxic-shock syndrome.
According to Health Canada, GAS can “cause serious illnesses, including pneumonia, meningitis, blood poisoning (bacteremia), streptococcal toxic-shock syndrome and flesh-eating disease.”
In her obituary published Tuesday, the family thanked “all of the staff at both University and Victoria Hospitals in London for the care and compassion which went above and beyond.”
Her husband Brandon Harris is left to care for their two daughters, Lilah and newborn Harper. A funeral is planned for Friday morning.
A sold-out fundraising dinner will be held later this month for her family.
*Editor’s note: This story previously stated Harris died of flesh-eating disease. Global News has since learned toxic shock syndrome might have been the cause of death. Both are caused by group A streptococcal.
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