Koral Reef, 20, of Temecula Valley, California, had just married her high school sweetheart Corey Pier when she fell ill
Mourning: Young Corey Pier is now a widower
A young newlywed's life was tragically cut short after she contracted a rare, brain-eating amoeba on holiday.
Koral Reef, 20, of Temecula Valley, California, had just married her high school sweetheart Corey Pier when she fell ill. Now he is a widower before even attending university.
Koral is believed to have caught a deadly amoeba called Balamuthia
while swimming on holiday in Arizona's Lake Havasu in May 2013.
Her wedding was in July and not long after that her symptoms started.
"They told us there is no real treatment for this," said Mr Pier.
Team Koral Reef FB
Loving kiss: Koral's decline was rapid
"I broke down and I was freaking out. I didn’t want to tell her. She
wouldn’t remember anyway. She was there, but she wasn’t there. It was
just eating away at her brain, he told the Press Examiner.
Her mother, Cybil Meister, described her heartbreaking decline.
"She started with the headaches, the stiff neck, the sensitivity to light and heat was bad," Meister told NBC 7.
Team Koral Reef FB
Illness: Koral's symptoms made the problem difficult to diagnose
"They said, ‘Oh, she’s having withdrawal from her birth control. It’s
a migraine.’ They gave her medicine and sent her home and then she
progressively got worse."
In September Koral was struggling to see.
Ms Mesiter said: "She went to Temecula Valley (a hospital) and they
did an MRI. They showed us the MRI and the amoeba, which they didn't
know was an amoeba, but there was a mass covering the entire right side
of her brain and partial of her left."
The following month she was dead.
The condition kills the vast majority of people infected with it - and there is no known effective treatment.
Team Koral Reef FB
Ordeal: Her mother spoke of the pain of watching her daughter dying
Balamuthia is inhaled and the parasite often lives in soil and dust.
The symptoms of the infection - headache, fatigue, and a stiff neck –
are common and so it is hard to diagnose.
Now Koral's mother is trying to raise awareness of the condition which so cruelly robbed her of her daughter.
"We're reaching out to people trying to raise awareness because I
don't think people understand how serious it can be. It's deadly," she
added.
Aaron Evans, 14, died from an infection caused by another parasite,
Naegleria fowleri, that his family believe he contracted at the same
lake.
Jia Tsou dumped her attacker on the floor when he tried to attack her in the closed restaurant
An alleged would-be rapist got the shock of his life when he 'targeted' a female martial arts expert who floored him TWICE - while wearing a mini-skirt.
Jin He is accused of trying to pounce on a restaurant worker who was seen leaving her shift in China.
He
knocked on the door of the closed restaurant, claiming he wanted to use
the toilet and allegedly tried to sexually assault a member of staff.
CEN
Jia Tsou dumped her attacker on the floor when he tried to attack her in the closed restaurant
But despite the would-be victim wearing a mini-skirt, she soon turned the tables on her attacker by throwing him to the floor.
She grabbed him by the throat and warned him to leave her alone.
When
she fled from the restaurant, Tsou, 25, is accused of attacking her
again - but the victim managed to knock her attacker down for a second
time.
CEN
Fled: He is accused of trying to attack her in the closed restaurant
The extraordinary incident took place in the city of Linyi in eastern China’s Shandong province and was captured on CCTV camera.
A friend of the victim said: "She was very brave and her martial arts skills saved her.
CEN
CCTV: The victim is seen dumping the alleged attacker on the floor
"Her attacker didn’t know what had hit him. At one point she
had him on the floor and was sitting on him with her hands around his
throat."
Detectives traced the attacker using the CCTV evidence and arrested him two weeks later.
He will now be tried for attempted rape.
Settled now: Sienna Miller today and (inset) with her ex Jude Law
For a time, she drew the spotlight because of her rollercoaster personal life
rather than her career.
But at 33, Sienna Miller says she has found peace with her new family and is finally happy with herself.
Admitting she made mistakes, she adds she was simply too young and naive when she started dating Jude Law at 21.
Sienna, currently starring in Hollywood blockbusters American Sniper
and Foxcatcher, said: “For a long time, the focus wasn’t on my work, it
was very much elsewhere.
"I was naive, I think. I was a young 21. Not totally green, I was by no means an innocent.
“But I had faith in the goodness of everyone and that led me into all sorts of situations that backfired.”
Sienna got together with Jude, 42,
in late 2003 while they were both working on the remake of film classic Alfie.
The couple hit the headlines when she broke off their engagement in 2005 after learning of his affair with his children’s nanny.
She took him back four years later but they split for good in 2011.
During a court hearing on the phone hacking scandal, Sienna admitted she had a brief affair with her Layer Cake co-star Daniel Craig
while she was with Jude.
Rex Features
Engaged: Sienna Miller with fiance Tom Sturridge
The rocky years are over for former model Sienna, however, who is now
engaged to actor Tom Sturridge, 29, and has daughter Marlowe, two.
She said she is not ashamed of her mistakes and thinks they have helped make her a stronger person.
She said: “I feel more grounded and complete. Your 20s are the time
for exploration and you kind of stumble and trip and pick yourself back
up.
“All those experiences align to make you who you are.
“I think it’s really important to have ups and downs and make
mistakes - God knows I’ve made my fair share - but it all come together.
I’m happy with me.” Fashion-savvy Sienna
added another string to her bow when she launched clothing line Twenty8twelve with sister Savannah.
But speaking to Australian Vogue, she admitted it is hard to keep up with the latest trends now that she is a mother.
“Everything gets covered in food or paint, so it’s pretty hard to be a new mother and think about fashion,” she said. Day job: Sienna with Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
BAFTA-nominated actress Sienna is keen to add to her brood and said more children are definitely on the cards.
However, for the time being she is enjoying her film projects - so long as she can work with the best directors and actors.
She said: “It’s such a compromise to be away from my daughter.
“So as much as I need that creative input, it’s got to be something I’m incredibly passionate about for it to be worthwhile.
“It’s not about the size of the role anymore but much more about working with the best directors and actors I possibly can.
“Now I’m more sure of what I’m able to do and what I’m good at, and comfortable holding out for the right stuff.” See Sienna in the American Sniper trailer below
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