Ammon News - Laura Barajas contracted a bacterial infection from undercooking tilapia fish in late July. On Thursday, she was forced to undergo a life-saving amputation surgery after spending months in hospital battling the deadly infection.

The mum nearly lost her life when she cooked and ate the fish herself, a friend said. "It's just been really heavy on all of us," Anna Messina said to News 19.

She continued: "It's terrible This could've happened to any of us... she almost lost her life. She was on a respirator."

Laura contracted sepsis after purchasing the fish at a local market in San Jose, California. She is now left with life-changing amputations as she looks to the future with her six-year-old son.

The infection that caused serious problems for Barajas was likely caused by eating tilapia infected with a strain of vibrio vulnificus. Its side effects were nearly fatal.

Earlier this year, three people across New York and Connecticut died from infections this summer linked to vibrio vulnificus. The bacteria is found in seawater or raw shellfish, according to the Department of Public Health.

Mirror