A Pennsylvania teen is fighting for her life in a coma due to an untreated UTI

For most of us, a UTI seems like no big deal. We’ll grab some cranberry juice on the way home and hit up an urgent care if it doesn’t clear up in a few days—maybe even put it off if we’re busy. But a Pittsburgh teenager is now a cautionary tale for why you should never ignore UTI symptoms, because like any infection, they can turn serious.

18-year-old Katie Sullivan experienced lower back pain for about a month, but wrote it off as a symptom of her training schedule as a gymnast and softball player. But just after Christmas, doctors discovered she was in septic shock from an untreated UTI. She was flown to a hospital in critical condition.

“When they did the testing, they found she had a urinary tract infection for about a month that actually caused a hole in her kidney, which caused an abscess in her liver into her back muscle and behind her kidney, and she was in septic shock,” Katie’s mom, Shannon Sullivan, told local news reporters. “She’s a perfectly healthy 18-year-old who on Sunday was fighting for her life.”

Katie was put in a medically induced coma, but her family says she’s showing signs of progress.

“For the first time today, I asked her if she wanted to go home and she shook her head yes. They asked her if she was in pain, and she shook her head no,” her mom said on Thursday.

Katie’s doctors believe she has a long road ahead of her after becoming so sick. Even though she was strong and healthy, her illness was critical and it will take some time before she’s back on her feet.

For others, her family just wants to spread the word that even seemingly minor medical issues shouldn’t be ignored.

“Even if you think it’s nothing, please get it checked,” Katie’s mom said. “Because I never in a million years, and I’m a nurse practitioner, did I think I’d be here watching my daughter being intubated, in renal failure, and being given a dire diagnosis at 18.”