Support Mackenzie Through Flesh-Eating Bacteria Recovery

Hello friends, family, and strangers of the internet. My friend, Mackenzie Parker, is experiencing an extremely serious medical emergency and needs assistance. On the morning of Monday, July 1st, Mackenzie called 911 after a week or so of right leg stiffness that grew into full-leg immobility. After spending over 10 hours in the ER, she was brought into emergency surgery. There, her team of surgeons found necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacteria, from her hip to her ankle. This condition has an extremely high mortality rate and an even higher rate of loss of limb. She underwent a 3-hour operation for a full debridement. What has followed has been Operating Room trips every 2-3 days for bandage changes, wound vacs, and continued debridement.

Now entering the third week of her hospital stay, the reality of this insane situation continues to sink in. The doctors can find no root cause of the massive infection. The infectious disease team has come by multiple times with much confusion, but we have no clear answer. Mackenzie is still in the ICU and is looking at potentially over a month-long stay, followed by 2-3 months of her wound being left open to heal with outpatient treatment.

Throughout it all, Mackenzie has maintained her usual humor, she said the other day, "If I'm going to die, I better go out joking." But this process has definitely weighed on her spirit. Mackenzie was laid off from her job just before Christmas 2023 and she's been working with recruiters (even going through a 3-month interview process for one opportunity) since that time. She had been receiving unemployment checks from the government; however, she has just hit the 6-month mark and will no longer receive those benefits. Mackenzie is now expressing fears about not being able to continue her job hunt as she's in too much pain and on too much medication to even think clearly.

This is not what should be clouding her thoughts, all of her mental and physical energy needs to be going towards her recovery. I put this GoFundMe together as Mackenzie has always been extremely independent and self-sufficient. She did not even want to tell me that she was struggling with her leg, and suddenly we were in the ER and now hospital week 3. With all of her family living across the country from her NYC hospital room in Arizona, her friends have rallied around her. But she needs more than just what our friends can offer her emotionally, she needs support from her community.

If you are willing and able, any donations to help Mackenzie on her road to recovery will go towards hospital bills, the rent for her NYC apartment, potential rehab and PT expenses, and any other expenses for her health and wellbeing. This is one of those moments where the saying "it takes a village" runs very true, and I know if I were in Mackenzie's shoes she would do the same for me. Donations can be made through GoFundMe or directly to Mackenzie through her Venmo @MackParker.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please keep Mackenzie in your thoughts as she continues to be incredibly strong during an ongoing situation that feels straight out of a medical drama.

Tess Myers

A little about Mackenzie: Mackenzie is a native of Tucson, Arizona who moved to NYC at the beginning of 2022. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a double major in English and Creative Writing in 2020. Mackenzie studied abroad in London (where she met her awesome friends Tess & Nataly who now live at her bedside) and loves indie music and her sister's dog, Winslow. Don't tell her when and where you were born, or she will read your birth chart on the spot! She's an incredibly kind, independent, stupidly funny person as well as a truly amazing friend. And we hate that she's now living in this situation.