A woman who thought she had a stomach bug turned out to have a life-threatening condition which cost her a leg.
Lisa Jones, from Wrexham in Wales, was living normally before her illness – running a cleaning business and taking care of her daughter.
One night in June she woke up and vomited. She just thought it was a stomach bug but by day four her sister put her foot down.
Tanya rang an ambulance and Ms Jones was diagnosed with sepsis which was shutting down her organs, WalesOnline reports.
She went into a coma after arriving a Wrexham Maelor Hospital and was put on life support and kidney dialysis machines. Doctors told her family she had a five percent chance of surviving.
Three days later she woke up, and had “so many doctors and nurses and consultants coming to me and calling me a miracle, saying I wasn’t supposed to be here”.
Doctors believe the infection started in her kidneys, which affected blood supply to Lisa’s extremities, turning them black.
Despite her doing exercises to get blood moving, the black tissue in her right foot was growing and starting to smell.
She was told in August she would need an amputation. Half of her foot was removed before doctors worried an infection would spread and require amputation to the thigh. A preventative amputation to the knee was undertaken.
Lisa has been told there is a 50/50 chance her left leg with also need to be amputated.
Her fingers are black and she will inevitably lose them, but it is unknown when. Lisa said: “My fingers are rock hard. I had acrylic nails done three days before this all happened and they haven’t grown, I’ve still got the same perfect pink nails.”
Because of this, she cannot push herself in a normal wheelchair and needs an electric one, which there is a 38-week wait for on the NHS.
Her dad James has started a GoFundMe to raise £2,500 for one and to fund making her home more wheelchair friendly.
“I want to lead as much of an independent life as possible,” said Lisa.
“It’s been very hard on my mental health but my little girl (Carly-Ann) has got me through it. At night-time, she’s made sure I’ve been taking my medication.
“She’s been making me cups of coffee. When I’ve gone out in a wheelchair, with my dad or my partner pushing me, she’s been texting me to make sure I’m okay.”
She has also thanked her parents, her sister Tanya, her partner Colin and his daughter Evie.
Lisa, who decided to tell her story to raise awareness of sepsis, urged people to be mindful of the symptoms which can include vomiting, very high or low temperature, and shivering.
