What started off as a pool party on the Las Vegas Strip (practically a right of passage for anyone who visits) turned into a weeks-long medical nightmare.
Now this woman is using her platform to make sure no one else makes the same mistake she did.
A Day Party That Almost Killed Her
In a trending video with more than 33,000 views, @k_lamarie opens with a warning.
“Let me de-influence you from getting in these dirty-a– pools on the Las Vegas Strip,” she says.
She was staying on the Strip, decided to hit a daytime pool party, and didn’t think twice about a small cut on the bottom of her foot before getting in the water. Within 24 to 48 hours, she couldn’t put any pressure on her foot at all. She ended up in the emergency room, and that’s when things got serious.
“I’m in the hospital for six days—four of those days being in the ICU—because I had a severe blood infection and went into septic shock and almost died,” she explains.
After being discharged, she was on 12 days of IV antibiotics. All of it traced back to that pool. She’s not trying to kill anyone’s Vegas plans (she says the day parties are still fun), but she wants people going in with their eyes open.
“These pools are disgusting. But the day parties are lit,” she says.
How Dirty Are Vegas Strip Pool Parties?
An investigation by KTNV found that water samples taken from two of the most popular day clubs on the Strip—Marquee Dayclub at the Cosmopolitan and the Daylight Beach Club at Mandalay Bay—came back with bacteria counts of 15 million and 100 million, respectively, with E. coli present in both.
The samples were reviewed by Dr. Susan Whittier, a clinical microbiologist at Columbia University, who described the water as “kind of similar to swimming in a toilet” and said the potential for infection was “inevitable.”
Nevada requires day clubs to keep their filtration systems running continuously and their pools free of debris, slime, and biofilm.
Producers at the Cosmopolitan still found fingernails, cigarette butts, and foamy debris floating in the water, which tested positive for E. coli.
How An Open Wound Makes Things Worse
According to the Sepsis Alliance, any break in the skin—a cut, scrape, or blister—is a direct entry point for bacteria, and they advise against swimming with an open wound unless it’s fully covered with a waterproof bandage.
Chlorine kills most germs but not all, and the CDC notes that recreational water illnesses are a recognized risk even in treated pools.
Once bacteria enter through broken skin and reach the bloodstream, the body can respond in a way that becomes more dangerous than the infection itself.
Cleveland Clinic describes sepsis as the body’s “overwhelming response” to infection. The immune system overreacts, starts attacking healthy tissue and organs, and causes widespread inflammation.
It’s a medical emergency that can progress to septic shock, and according to Cleveland Clinic, septic shock can cause death in as little as 12 hours. Even with treatment, up to half of all people who reach the septic shock stage don’t survive.
For those who do make it through, recovery is far from quick. Patients often need ICU stays, IV antibiotics, and sometimes surgery to remove damaged tissue.
Many survivors also deal with post-sepsis syndrome, a cluster of physical and mental health effects including extreme fatigue, joint pain, anxiety, depression, and insomnia that can linger long after discharge.
Cleveland Clinic notes that more than half of sepsis survivors die within five years, though researchers are still working to understand how much of that is tied to sepsis itself versus underlying health conditions.
@k_lamarie Can you guess the Las Vegas hotel 🎰💀✨ #LasVegas #TheStrip #PoolParty
Commenters React
“My husband and I own a pool service and repair company in Vegas. I can tell everyone in full confidence DO NOT GET IN THE RESORT POOLS!!!! I know too much, it’s not good,” a top comment read.
“People drink all day and no one gets out and uses the restroom,” a person said.
“Super packed but the restroom s are empty,” another wrote.
“The day parties are lit. But yes. Don’t get in the water,” a commenter added.
BroBible reached out to @k_lamarie for comment via TikTok direct message and comment. We’ll be sure to update this if she responds.