Local and federal health officials continue to keep a close eye on the fungal meningitis outbreak that's been linked to cosmetic surgeries in Matamoros.

One Rio Grande Valley family shares their story of a wife and mother who died from the infection.

"All the doctor's words are this is a new fungal meningitis we are learning from it," Tommy De La Rosa said.

De La Rosa says his wife of eight years, Alma Perales, went to Riverside Surgical Center and within two weeks she began getting severe headaches and swollen eyes.

From there, her condition got worse. Doctors eventually diagnosed her with fungal meningitis.

"All of a sudden, May 22 at 4 o'clock in the morning, she had a stroke," De La Rosa said.

Doctors told De La Rosa his wife's stroke was caused by an aneurysm in her brain. He says she underwent 28 different procedures to try to control her symptoms, and for a while the family was hopeful.  

"The last week she was alive, the last week of June, we actually had conversations together. She was there talking and singing at night," De La Rosa said.

Perales suffered another aneurysm and had a second stroke. Her husband said it left her in a vegetative state.

The family made the tough decision to pull her off life support, but Perales waited until her five-year-old could say goodbye.

"My daughter said a prayer for her. As soon as we walked out, the nurse called me that she had gone. So she wanted to say goodbye to her," De La Rosa said.

According to the Center of Disease Control, symptoms can take time to show up.

De La Rosa hopes sharing his wife's story will convince others to get tested and to think twice before getting cosmetic surgery.

"If you want to make a change, do it the right way," De La Rosa said.

Now the single father is leaning on faith.

"Without God, I wouldn't be able to make this journey. The same thing with Alma, it made us stronger now for our little girl," De La Rosa said. "It's amazing that a five-year-old can handle this. I can barely handle this, and she's keeping me strong the way she can handle it."

So far, eight people have died from the infection across the state. Two of those deaths are from Cameron County.