A TEACHER was forced to have her hands and feet amputated after they turned black and started to look mummified.
Sherri Moody, 51, from Houston, Texas, thought she was suffering from a regular tickly throat but had to go to hospital after she started vomiting and suffered a fever.
Sherri Moody..Sherri Moody, 51, was forced to have her hands and feet amputated after they turned black[/caption]
Facebook/David MoodyShe thought she was suffering from a regular tickly throat but had to go to hospital after she started vomiting and suffered a fever[/caption]
Doctors discovered she had double pneumonia, when both lungs are infected, and she went on to develop sepsis — a life-threatening reaction to an infection.
Her husband David, 53, told TODAY.com: “I had to Google what sepsis was. I had no idea. I recognised real quick that we were in a severe situation. I was scared to pieces.
“It was like a category five hurricane coming in. She had nothing to fight with. It’s like she went to war with no soldiers.
“I literally watched my wife’s feet and hands die. They were black and they were mummified.”
Sepsis affects 245,000 people in the UK every year.
The condition is always triggered by an infection — but it is not contagious and cannot be passed from person to person.
It is caused by the body’s immune system going into overdrive, attacking its own internal organs and sometimes leading to deadly septic shock.
Symptoms can be hard to spot but include confusion, slurred speech, not making sense, blue, grey, pale or blotchy skins, a rash and difficulty breathing.
Sherri started suffering flu-like symptoms after taking a field trip with her students in April last year and her condition quickly deteriorated.
She woke David up in the middle of the night saying she needed to go to hospital and doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia caused by the bacteria Streptococcus.
It usually causes strep throat but can lead to more severe illness.
DEADLY REACTION
Her kidneys and lungs began shutting down and her blood pressure plummeted two days after she went to the ER because of septic shock.
Doctors put her in a medically induced coma and gave her vasopressor drugs that push blood to the vital organs to keep them working.
Sadly, this also caused circulation to her hands and feet to drop off, resulting in the blackening of her flesh.
Doctors were forced to amputate both her legs below the knee in June 2023, and both her arms above the elbow the following month.
She has suffered a series of complications with gangrene since that have delayed her ability to get prosthetics needed to walk again.
But Sherri says she is “choosing to be happy” while she waits to get her independence back.
Sherri Moody..Sherri woke up in the middle of the night saying she needed to go to hospital and doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia[/caption]
Facebook/ today.comDoctors were forced to amputate both her legs below the knee in June 2023, and both her arms above the elbow the following month[/caption]
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF SEPSIS?
Symptoms of sepsis in an adult include:
acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
a rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast
Symptoms in a child include:
blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
a rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
difficulty breathing (you may notice grunting noises or their stomach sucking under their ribcage), breathlessness or breathing very fast
a weak, high-pitched cry that’s not like their normal cry
not responding like they normally do, or not interested in feeding or normal activities
being sleepier than normal or difficult to wake
They may not have all these symptoms.
Call 999 or go to A&E if they are suffering any of them.
Source: The NHS