Charlie Webster (Getty) Charlie Webster, a British TV presenter, has fallen into a coma after contracting a rare form of malaria on a 3,000-mile charity bike ride from London through Brazil. Her representatives said that she got sick hours after the Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony.
She has been on life support in an induced coma since last Friday in Rio after her kidneys stopped functioning.
Webster was initially admitted to a hospital, where doctors treated her for dehydration after her long journey from London to Rio. But a severe complication from a bacterial infection eventually caused her condition to worsen.
The former Sky and ITV presenter was posting regularly on her social media accounts before she went silent. *An update on August 11 told her followers that she is “receiving great care.”
For all the concern over health in Rio, cases like Webster have been rare.
One Belgian sailor became ill after racing in the infamous Guanabara Bay, which was the center of concern over the cleanliness of the water in Rio. Evi Van Acker caught a bacterial infection in her intestine while training in the bay.
Jenn Suhr of the United States also fell ill, but it is unclear whether it was a result of Zika, a virus that is transported by mosquitoes in the area, or just another ailment.
In fact, crime has been a bigger threat to the athletes than anything else in Rio.
Two Australian rowing coaches were robbed at knifepoint on Ipanema Beach less than 48 hours after the opening ceremony. *Another Australian athlete was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight.

In a very telling moment, Rio mayor Eduardo Paes admitted that Brazil is doing a terrible job to combat crime in Rio before the games even began. It doesn’t appear that much has changed since the Olympics have begun.
Regardless of the amount of illnesses or crimes toward athletes and the media covering them, any bad press has been disastrous for Rio officials. For every positive story about the Olympics, there seems to be another story about a dead body near Maracana Stadium or journalists getting their bus pelted with rocks.
Webster’s unfortunate circumstances may not have been in anyone’s control, but her contraction of a bacterial infection in Brazil does not bode well for Rio public relations.