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Relief may
come soon to
bacteria victim, 5

Alyshia Shimizu awaits
skin grafting at Shriners
Hospital in Sacramento

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Skin grafting on Alyshia Shimizu could be performed as early as next week, says the father of the 5-year-old Wahiawa girl whose body has been ravished by necrotizing fasciitis, or "flesh-eating bacteria."

Alyshia, accompanied by her mother, Annette, was sent to the Shriners Hospital in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday after Dr. Walton Shim and staff at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children arrested the spread of the bacteria.

"I'm told she opened her eyes briefly, but my wife didn't see it," Honolulu police officer Anthony Shimizu said.

"My wife has been singing songs to her, and judging by my daughter's heart rate, she knows her mother is there. They're saying maybe, in a week or two, they can begin skin grafting."

Doctors were forced to remove dead skin tissue from a good portion of Alyshia's right leg to stop the spread, says Shimizu.

The Shriners Hospital in Sacramento specializes in treating severe burns, and the physical condition of Alyshia's leg is similar.

"I cannot say enough about Dr. Shim and the Kapiolani staff. They saved my daughter's life," Anthony Shimizu said. "She's still critical and has a long road ahead, but she's alive."

Shimizu does not think his daughter contracted the bacteria in the family's garage, where she fell and suffered a cut knee that required five stitches to close.

"Everybody's asking," Shimizu said. "But Alyshia has fallen down many times in the garage, and nothing like this happened before.

"We don't know how she got it."

Don Murphy of Murphy's Bar & Grill on Nuuanu Avenue donated 10 percent of all his sales yesterday to help defray medical costs.

Murphy has also set up a "piggy bank" at his restaurant for contributions to the family.

Donations are also being accepted at all First Hawaiian Bank branches, and checks can be made out to "Friends for Alyshia."

Checks payable to "Anthony Shimizu Fund" can also be mailed to the Honolulu Police Federal Credit Union at 1537 Young St., Honolulu, 96826.