Miss World Finalist Dead at 20

Miss World Finalist Dead at 20

A Brazilian model and Miss World finalist whose hands and feet were amputated to fight off a little-known disease died early Saturday morning, CNN has reported.

View images of Miss World model Mariana Bridi.

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20-year-old Mariana Bridi da Costa became ill December 30 and was misdiagnosed with kidney stones, according to CNN.com.

When her health deteriorated, doctors ultimately figured out she was suffering from a severe urinary tract infection and septicimea, an infection of the blood that limits the amount of oxygen that flows to the extremities like hands and feet.

This infection forced doctors to amputate.

She also had her stomach removed in another surgery to stem internal bleeding.

"Unfortunately Mari couldn't resist any longer. She passed away at 3 a.m. today," Henrique Fontes, executive director of Miss World Brazil said in an e-mail to the cable news network.

Fontes had urged people to donate blood for Bridi, who had a rare blood type.

Renato Lindgren, a friend of the model who has dedicated a blog to Bridi, also confirmed her death to CNN.

Bridi’s family had set-up a blog updating her condition, which has been crashing due to high traffic. The family had asked people to continue praying for her life. As of early Saturday morning, the blog had not noted the model's death.

Bridi was a finalist to represent Brazil in the Miss World contest and participated in the Miss Bikini International pageant in China last year.