In 2007, life was good for Tanya, a 30-something chef who loved to hike, swim and ski. "I felt like I was on a roll," she says. "Like I was going places."

Professionally, Tanya was doing what she loved as a chef for an Idaho catering company. Personally, she had found love. She and her boyfriend, Neil, were talking about marriage.

Then, in an instant, everything changed. On March 19, 2007, Tanya was chopping celery at work when her knife slipped and cut her finger. Since the wound wasn't much deeper than a paper cut, Tanya says she thought nothing of it. "I cleaned it up with alcohol wipes, and I put a Band-Aid on it," she says. "I put two gloves on, cleaned up my area and went back to work."

• How to protect yourself from MRSA
• Get information from the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation at NNFF.org
• Find more information about MRSA at StopMRSANow.org
• Learn how to prevent the spread of infection at SafeCareCampaign.org

From The Oprah Winfrey Show Dr. Oz Investigates: Flesh-Eating Bacteria

What's your RealAge? Take the test to find out. RealAge