Bacterial meningitis: Australian fitness influencer hospitalized in Bali with fatal brain infection
Australian fitness influencer Khiana Smith, 23, has been hospitalized in Bali after contracting a fatal brain infection during what should have been a happy holiday.
The Gold Coast online coach first noticed symptoms such as headaches and dizziness more than a week ago, which quickly escalated into a frightening stay in intensive care.
Australian fitness influencer Khiana Smith has been hospitalized in Bali with a brain infection caused by bacterial meningitis. Instagram/@khiana.smith
Soon after, Smith suffered from severe pain, speech problems and extreme sensitivity to light that made it impossible for him to even get out of bed.
When she finally arrived at a hospital in Bali, where she struggled with a language barrier and memory problems, she was diagnosed with a brain infection due to bacterial meningitis, a rare and potentially fatal infection.
Smith received life-saving treatment, but he struggles to remember his first days in the hospital.
“Life is so precious, one minute I’m healthy, traveling the world, living the life of my dreams and the next I’m bedridden in the ICU in Bali with a brain infection that could have killed me,” she said in a TikTok video.
Smith’s mother flew to Bali to be with her immediately after her hospitalization and has been there ever since.
In a video update shared on TikTok over the weekend, the 23-year-old said that after a week in hospital, she was feeling really struggling.
“I feel absolutely helpless. I just want to go home,” she said from her hospital bed.
“Just like the bare minimum seems so hard. I really can’t do anything. I’ve lost a lot of memory, I have a really hard time remembering things. Yesterday I left my bed for the first time in six days.”
Smith told her followers she was in mental and physical pain after more than a week in the hospital. TikTok/@khianasmith
The next day, she shared another update in which she said that despite the setbacks, she felt better than she had in over a week.
“Now I also have pneumonia and fluid in my lungs, so it’s not great,” she said.
“But I guess it’s all part of fighting an infection and being literally bedridden for eight days straight. My body feels like it’s shutting down. But we’re on the road to recovery.”
Smith said it was the first time she was able to get up and walk after six days of “hospital rot.”
Smith keeps her TikTok and Instagram followers updated with regular posts from the hospital. Instagram/@khiana.smith
She thanked her friends, family and followers for their messages of support and admitted that the whole ordeal had changed her outlook on health.
“Honestly, my main goal is just to get out of the hospital. I feel like the hospital is making me decline now, mentally and physically,” she added.
“I need to get out. I need to walk. I need to move my body. So we’re hoping to get out as soon as possible.”
Smith has now been hospitalized for nine days but appears to be trying to stay positive and has urged her supporters to take their health seriously, especially when traveling abroad.
She shared a poignant video montage of her recent travels and accomplishments on Instagram on Sunday evening with the caption “Do it for you.”
“When you start loving yourself, life starts loving you too,” she wrote over the images in white text.
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