Trinity Peterson-Mayes, 24, is facing a life-threatening illness after eating a homemade meal with her friends<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cI was intubated, I had a central line in my neck, and I had an NG [nasogastric] tube\u2026 and I just woke up and I couldn’t move at all \u2026 It was very scary,\u201d she recalled<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Previously, Trinity was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer when she was 2 months old and an aggressive bone cancer when she was 11 years old<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
An Arizona woman, who is a two-time cancer survivor, contracted a rare, life-threatening illness after eating a homemade meal with her friends.<\/p>\n
Not long after Trinity Peterson-Mayes, who was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer when she was 2 months old and an aggressive bone cancer when she was 11, tried her friend\u2019s homemade fermented swordfish alongside five of her other friends in February, she noticed that something didn\u2019t quite feel right.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt tasted horrible, I\u2019m going to be so honest,\u201d Trinity, 24, told local outlet KPNX<\/a>. \u201cIt’s supposed to be healthy and I figured I might as well try, if it’s bad and I’ll just get a bad stomach ache.\u201d<\/p>\n Within days, however, she began to notice that she was unable to chug water without it going down the wrong pipe.<\/p>\n Trinity Peterson-Mayes \u201cSlowly, over the course of 24 hours, I went from not being able to chug water to not being able to drink any water at all,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n After completely choking on a sip of coffee, Trinity decided to go to the hospital. And although the first hospital she went to nearly sent her home because they couldn\u2019t figure out what was wrong with her, she was diagnosed with botulism shortly after being transferred to St. Joseph’s Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute for specialized neurological care.<\/p>\n \u201cI woke up and I had three IVs,\u201d Trinity said. \u201cI was intubated, I had a central line in my neck, and I had an NG [nasogastric] tube\u2026 and I just woke up and I couldn’t move at all. It was very scary. I wasn’t able to talk before. I wasn’t able to walk.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, botulism is a rare but serious illness that is caused by \u201ca toxin that attacks the body\u2019s nerves and causes difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis and even death.\u201d<\/p>\n The illness is so rare, in fact, that emergency physician Dr. Frank LoVecchio told KPNX that \u201cmost emergency physicians go their whole career without seeing a case.\u201d<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <\/strong>PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Trinity Peterson-Mayes \u201cIt causes this paralysis of your muscles, and most important being, you know, your chest muscles, those that are responsible for breathing,\u201d he explained. \u201cIn the United States, there’s about two dozen cases per year on average of food botulism.\u201d<\/p>\n Of Trinity’s five other friends who joined her in trying the fermented swordfish, two ended up getting botulism as well. While her friends are now out of the hospital, Trinity expects to be released in the coming days.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter everything she had been through as a child, we believed the hardest battles were behind her,\u201d Trinity\u2019s mom, Loren Amatruda, wrote on GoFundMe<\/a>. \u201cRecovery from botulism can take weeks to months, sometimes longer, and often requires extensive rehabilitation and therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven through all of this, Trinity continues to show the same strength and resilience that helped her survive cancer twice as a child,\u201d she continued. \u201cShe is already fighting hard every day to regain the basic abilities most of us take for granted \u2014 speaking, swallowing and moving normally again.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Trinity](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6854d7c0ff74a8b10c36a1c0653cdf2b.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n![\"Trinity](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/17ae6bf4ca9b153fc04b32894868fc6c.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n