AKRON, OHIO — An aspiring young dancer is recovering in the hospital after a case of strep throat led to a severe infection that caused her to lose her leg.

Tessa Puma, 6, developed a case of strep throat and was prescribed a cycle of antibiotics in early March, according to WSB-TV.

But then last week when she got hit with the flu, she started complaining to her parents about pain in her arms and legs.

Tessa went to two hospitals before doctors diagnosed her with necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacterial infection, according to ABC News.

The pain in her legs intensified. When doctors performed surgery to relieve swelling, they discovered severe damage in her left leg in addition to parts of her shoulder and back, ABC New reported.

Necrotizing fasciitis can develop when bacterial infections migrate from the bloodstream and infect membranes surrounding muscles or other internal organs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Doctors think the strep bacteria entered Tessa’s bloodstream and caused the infection. The doctors weren’t unable to find a pulse in her leg, so they amputated her left leg from the knee down in order to help her heal.

Tessa is recovering in the Akron Children’s Hospital but will need further procedures and other parts of her left leg removed to help her survive.