Doctors Amputate Model's Hands, Feet

Brazilian model Mariana Bridi The family of a 20-year-old Brazilian model who is fighting for her life after having her hands and feet amputated have urged her supporters around the world to keep praying for their daughter.

A blog created to provide updates on Mariana Bridi da Costa's condition says the model's stomach had to be removed during the last surgery due to internal bleeding.

"Continue praying for her. The doctors are doing everything that is humanly possible to save her, but only God can really save your (sic) life," says the most recent post by Renato Lindgren.

Da Costa's boyfriend, Thiago Simoes, told the G1 news Web site that Bridi fell ill on December 30 and was initially misdiagnosed with kidney stones.

When her condition worsened she returned to hospital where doctors determined she was suffering from a severe urinary tract infection.

By then, Bridi was also suffering from septicemia, a blood infection that limited the supply of oxygen to her extremities.

The condition forced doctors to amputate first her hands and then her feet.

Her father, Agnaldo da Costa, is said to have told Folha de S Paulo newspaper that "the concern is over her life." CNN

The executive director of Miss World Brazil, Henrique Fontes, issued a call for blood donors.

According to the blogsite, Bridi has a rare negative blood type. By Tuesday, it said more than 100 people had donated blood in her name.