Shan Visser may have lost both arms and legs after being bitten by a mongoose, but she is not letting it stop her or even slow her down!
Johannesburg, South Africa (11 May 2021) – Shan Visser’s story is both heartbreaking and incredibly powerful… a mongoose bit the young South African, and after having four limbs amputated and over 70 operations to save her life, the local survivor and warrior has just launched the Shan Show!
In January 2017, Shan fell almost fatally ill and had to have all four limbs amputated. Nearly 70 surgeries later and counting, today, Shan has released her very own short documentary and her very own inspiring talk show, “The Shan Show”, to use her story of trauma and hardship to inspire and motivate others through emotive and moving conversations with people who come from all sides of adversity.
Shan sat down with Good Things Guy to chat about her story! Listen to the inspirational interview here:
She was diagnosed with gram-negative bacterial sepsis – an infection that is resistant to antibiotics and other antibacterial interventions – and slipped into a coma for two weeks. Her husband, Anthony, was called in and told that her organs had started shutting down and that if she did not wake up within 24 hours, “that would be it”.
The next day Shan’s white blood cell count started to climb, which meant that her body was finally responding to the medication. Once her body was strong enough and the infection cleared, the medical staff started to bring her out of the coma. On February 6, 2017, her legs were amputated, and her hands were amputated two days later.
“I came out of the coma with strength and positivity that can only come from above,” said Visser.
After all of this trauma and tragedy, Shan is still incredibly positive and believes that “can’t” isn’t a word.
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