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37-year-old mother almost dies and needs liver transplant after hepatitis B infection caused by $ 60 nose ring prevented her from eating or even drinking water
- Dana Smith, 37, from Queens, New York, bought a $ 60 nose piercing on Thanksgiving as a birthday present
- After a few days she started to feel unwell but delayed going to the doctor
- Eventually she couldn’t eat and vomited blood and went to the hospital
- Doctors at North Shore Hospital discovered the piercing caused a deadly hepatitis B virus that destroyed the mother’s liver
- Dana was put on the transplant list in January and a match was found within 48 hours
- Doctors warned that the infection had become much more serious because Dana had waited so long to see a doctor.
A mother-of-one in New York City was nearly killed after a new nose piercing caused a fatal infection that destroyed her liver.
Dana Smith, 37, of Queens, spent $ 60 on jewelry during a Thanksgiving shopping trip last year, as a birthday present for herself.
Days later, the director of Northwell Health started to feel unwell, but she postponed her visit to the doctor believing the problem was due to stress caused by the holiday season and the pandemic.
But on January 12, Smith became unable to eat or drink, and she eventually went to the Long Island Jewish Medical Center on January 12.
Doctors found she had fulminant hepatitis B, a rare infection that had caused her liver to fail – and that she could be days away from death.
Dana Smith, 37, mother and insurance manager from Queens, New York, nearly died of hepatitis B after her nose piercing was infected
Dana was rushed to hospital with the hepatitis B virus which destroyed her liver. She has been placed in a medically induced coma (pictured) to prevent seizures as surgeons put her on the transplant list
She later told ABC7 News: ‘I only drank water, I couldn’t hold water. I guess at some point I started vomiting blood.
After being taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Dr Lewis Teperman, Northwell’s Director of Transplant Services, took charge of her care.
He decided to put Dana into a medically induced coma to reduce the chances of infection swelling her brain or causing seizures.
It was then a race against time to put her on the transplant list for a new liver.
A match was found in just 48 hours and the operation took place on January 17.
But it wasn’t until after his operation that Dr Taperman noticed the small stud in his nose and realized that it could be the source of the infection.
Dana told the New York Daily News: ‘I told her this is new, not something I have had for years. My health was good otherwise. I had just gone to the doctor, everything was fine before I got it. It was the only thing that made sense.
Dr Teperman added: ‘It was the only one-time change that had taken place in her life, that nose ring. And now is the perfect time to incubate the virus.
Dana returned home on January 26.
The surgeon and patients were reunited later after her recovery, where she thanked him for saving her life.
Dana Smith pictured this week tracking down Dr Lewis Teperman, the Northwell Health surgeon who saved the life of the Northwell Health director after his infected nose piercing.
Dana Smith pictured with her teenage daughter said she was unsure how she would react if her daughter had her nose pierced in the future
Speaking to ABC7News after her recovery, she said: ‘This decision [to go to the hospital] saved my life. It is very overwhelming. Emotionally, everything, mentally.
Doctors warned that the infection had become much more serious because Dana had waited so long to see a doctor.
Smith warned others not to avoid going to hospital due to fears about COVID-19.
Dr Teperman said the hepatitis B virus is rare and only causes 5% of liver failure cases in the country each year.
He added that he couldn’t be sure Dana contracted the fatal infection at Valley Stream, the Long Island mall lounge where she had the piercing, or after improper care.
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