Brazilian model who lost hands, feet to infection dies
Posted: 24 January 2009 2310 hrs

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SAO PAULO - A 20-year-old Brazilian model who lost her hands and feet to an infection died in hospital Saturday of medical complications, according to a family statement on her website.

"It's with great sadness that we inform you of the death of Mari, today (Saturday) at 2:30am," her family wrote on the site of Mariana Bridi da Costa (www.marianabridi.com.br).

They said she died of a generalized infection and abdominal bleeding.

National news websites, including G1, O Globo and Estadao, quoted authorities confirming the information.

Doctors at the Dorio Silva Hospital in Serra, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo, earlier this month amputated Bridi's hands and feet because of irreparable tissue damage caused by a urinary infection.

She was diagnosed with the Pseudomonas aeroginosa bacterium, which can prove fatal.

Bridi was an up-and-coming model before the tragedy struck.

She twice made it into the national finals for the Miss World contest, and last year travelled to China to participate in the Miss Bikini International pageant.

Her family and media on Friday had launched an appeal for blood donors to help Bridi, who had the rare O negative blood type.

"It is important to stress that, in Mari's 20 years of life, she lived intensely and was very happy," the family said in their statement.

O Globo said Bridi was to buried late Saturday.

- AFP/ir