Brazilian model who lost hands, feet fighting infection has died

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil

Health officials say a Brazilian model whose feet and hands were amputated because of an infection has died.

Officials said in a statement early today that 20-year-old Mariana Bridi's condition deteriorated overnight. She died at 2:30 a.m.

The Espirito Santo State Health Secretariat said in the statement she died from complications related to a generalized infection. It was caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is known to be resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics.

Bridi had been in the hospital in the city of Serra in southeastern Brazil since Jan. 3. She fell ill in December and doctors originally diagnosed her with kidney stones, local media said. But as her condition worsened, she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection that spread.

The cause of the infection was not immediately known.

It reduced the flow of oxygen to her limbs, causing her feet to be amputated last week and her hands this week. Part of Bridi's stomach was also removed as doctors tried to contain internal bleeding, local media said.

Health officials on Friday said Bridi was not breathing on her own and was undergoing hemodialysis in Serra.

Bridi was twice a finalist in the Brazilian stage of the Miss World pageant.

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