Caitlin Gallagher's Memorial Fund
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Just 3 days after celebrating her 21st birthday, Caitlin was rushed to the ER from her home following several days of her feeling ill and a wound developing on her body. Arriving to the hospital, Caitlin was immediately brought into surgery to have dead tissue removed from her body.
Caity spent the next two months in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) at St. Marys hospital. During this time she fought through 10 more major surgeries removing dead tissue and muscle from her body. During the course of her time in the CCU, the infection became septic and Caity struggled with keeping her heart rate up, suffered low blood pressure, kidney failure, a trachea was inserted, she contracted pneumonia, developed several more aggressive wounds on her body and had 5/6 major organs requiring support to function; ultimately leading her to fall into a coma.
Caity was given a diagnosis of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE); a family of germs that are difficult to treat because they have high levels of resistance to antibiotics in addition to Necrotizing fasciitis; a flesh eating bacteria affecting less than 20,000 people in the US- a bacteria so rare that she was the first case at St. Marys hospital in Waterbury, CT.
This bacteria is so aggressive that it developed immunity to 10 types of antibiotics, leaving the medical team with nothing to combat the aggressive bacteria; leading it to spread to her brain. Caity was transferred to a hospice unit from the CCU on 8/7/17 following the infection of her brain and passed away the morning of 8/9/17, at 21 years old.
The family was not prepared to manage the loss of such a beautiful soul at such a young age. Any and all donations will support the family in Caity's final farewell and memorial arrangements.












Caity spent the next two months in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) at St. Marys hospital. During this time she fought through 10 more major surgeries removing dead tissue and muscle from her body. During the course of her time in the CCU, the infection became septic and Caity struggled with keeping her heart rate up, suffered low blood pressure, kidney failure, a trachea was inserted, she contracted pneumonia, developed several more aggressive wounds on her body and had 5/6 major organs requiring support to function; ultimately leading her to fall into a coma.
Caity was given a diagnosis of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE); a family of germs that are difficult to treat because they have high levels of resistance to antibiotics in addition to Necrotizing fasciitis; a flesh eating bacteria affecting less than 20,000 people in the US- a bacteria so rare that she was the first case at St. Marys hospital in Waterbury, CT.
This bacteria is so aggressive that it developed immunity to 10 types of antibiotics, leaving the medical team with nothing to combat the aggressive bacteria; leading it to spread to her brain. Caity was transferred to a hospice unit from the CCU on 8/7/17 following the infection of her brain and passed away the morning of 8/9/17, at 21 years old.
The family was not prepared to manage the loss of such a beautiful soul at such a young age. Any and all donations will support the family in Caity's final farewell and memorial arrangements.
Organizer
Mindy Bellmay
Organizer
Waterbury, CT