An Australian mother is now partially paralyzed after using a friend's makeup brush, and is in constant pain "worse than childbirth."
Jo Gilchrist applied makeup with a contaminated brush and, soon after, began experiencing crippling back pain.
The 27-year-old lost all feeling in her lower body and legs and had to undergo emergency surgery back in February, People reported.
"It started as a dull ache and I thought it was my bad posture, but it got worse and worse and got to the point I had to call one of those doctors who come to you because I couldn't get out of bed," Gilchrist said. "I literally thought I was going to die."
Gilchrist's paralysis was caused by a drug-resistant strain of staph called MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), and she acquired the condition after using the makeup brush of a friend that had a staph infection on her face.
"The only thing we can put it down to is the makeup brush," she said. "My friend did have a staph infection on her face and I was using her brush just before. I had no idea that could even happen; I used to share with my friends all the time."
The prognosis for Gilchrist's recovery wasn't good, but despite the news that she may never walk again, she's been getting back up on her feet through physical therapy sessions.
She recently posted a video on her Facebook page of her standing up and taking a few steps.
"It's been the hardest struggle I've ever faced," she wrote. "I have fought with everything I have to lead to this."
Gilchrist is the mother of a 2-year-old boy named Tommy, whom she will be separated from for several months while she undergoes intensive treatment at a Princess Alexandra Hospital Home.
"Two weeks ago they said I might be able to walk for an hour or two a day -- like grocery shopping, washing up and hanging the washing out," Gilchrist told the Daily Mail. "I'm happy with that. I honestly didn't even expect that."
Nearly 30 percent of people carry staph infections in their noses, and most cases do not have symptoms or just never develop into an infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Initial symptoms of a MRSA infection can include a red, swollen or painful skin inflammation and a fever. If left untreated, staph infections can be fatal.
