Amelie Champagne, a 22-year-old Canadian woman, gave up on her long, frustrating battle with Lyme disease on September 11, when she took her life. Her story reveals not only her suffering, but the difficulties Lyme disease patients have with getting a definitive early diagnosis.
Amelie Champagne “free(d) herself from the unbearable pain, “said her father. “It is with the heaviest of hearts (and still in shock) that I share the tragic news that our sweetheart Amelie (22) took her own life this past Sunday,” said Alain Champagne, Groupe Jean Coutu CEO, on his LinkedIn page.
Canadian doctors misdiagnosed Amelie’s condition for years. The Lyme disease diagnosis was finally made when she visited the Johns Hopkins Medical Center in the United States in June. Misdiagnosis often occurs because the symptoms of Lyme disease can mimic symptoms of other illnesses. Unless the evidence of a tick bite is present, it can be missed.
Antibiotics are used to combat the disease, but any delay in treatment can cause Lyme to spread to the joints, heart, or respiratory and nervous system.
In spite of the diagnosis and an aggressive treatment plan, the disease had already spread throughout Amelie’s body.
“Over time and despite the recent treatments, the disease had evolved way beyond the numerous physical symptoms and was now severely impacting her brain,” said her father.
According to the CDC, Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected tick. Immediate symptoms include fatigue, fever, headache, and a rash.
Amelie took her life immediately after being discharged from Sherbrooke’s Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Quebec, where she had been hospitalized following a prior suicide attempt.
In recent interviews, Amelie’s father, Champagne accused Quebec’s healthcare system of failing his daughter, saying not only was she misdiagnosed, she also did not obtain appropriate psychiatric care.
Quebec’s chief coroner ordered a public inquiry into Amelie’s death. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the chief coroner, Pascale Descary, said in a statement that the public hearings “will allow any person of interest to express their views on the circumstances of this death in order to analyze all contributing factors, with a view to proposing solutions for better protection of human life.”