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| Sherrie Morton |
An elderly woman was found covered in flesh-eating maggots, which ate away her wounds.
A Washington state woman was arrested after her mother, who was in her care, was found in a filthy room and covered in maggots.
Sherrie Morton, 46, was arrested and charged with criminal mistreatment of a dependent person. Her mother, 70, was found in critical condition at her home in Auburn. The situation was uncovered, when an acquaintance came to visit the elderly woman and found that she was being neglected. The visitor called police.
The visitor told Kings County deputies that she saw hundreds of worms around a leg wound of the woman, The witness described what he saw as "like a horror movie." "The maggots may have helped the woman stay alive due to the fact that they were eating the rotten flesh that was infected which helped decrease the infection," detective Marylisa Priebe-Olson said.
Morton, who lives at home with his mother, said she had just noticed her mother's wounded leg. However, police said the injury appears to be at least one month old. The maggots also seem to have been around for a while, as the woman’s sheets were infested with the insects and the room was full of flies.
The detectives said that the condition of the house was so bad that paramedics had to wear special protective suits to remove the woman from her home. Paramedics also believe the maggots may have actually saved her life by eating the rotten skin and keeping the infection from spreading.