Brazilian model loses fight for life

updated 8:54 a.m. ET Jan. 24, 2009

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A Brazilian model whose feet and hands were amputated following a drug-resistant infection died early on Saturday, health officials said.

Mariana Bridi, 20, died at 2:30 a.m from complications related to a generalized infection caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the Espirito Santo State Health Secretariat said in a statement. The bacteria is known to be resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics.

Bridi had been in the hospital in the city of Serra in Espirito Santo state since Jan. 3.

Doctors originally diagnosed her with kidney stones in December, 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 at a hospital in the city of Serra.

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

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