Shelby Smith loses six fingers and two toes strep

A woman who lost six fingers and two toes in a horrific case of strep throat says she's lucky to be alive as she forges ahead with her recovery.

Knoxville, Tennessee woman Shelby Smith, 27, thought she had a run-of-the-mill sore throat when she started convulsing and her lips turned blue, she explained to WATE this week.

'Still in my mind I didn't think I was as sick as I really was,' said Smith, a retail worker who is engaged to be married.

In fact, she'd gone into septic shock, a rare and potentially deadly complication of the staph infection.

Smith was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance and put into a medically induced coma for a week.

When she awoke, her hand looked 'like something from a horror movie,' Smith said.

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