Mum forced to have all limbs amputated after getting COVID-19
A coronavirus survivor ended up having all of her hands and feet amputated after contracting life-threatening sepsis.
Caroline Coster, 58, showed symptoms for coronavirus at the end of March and spent "two horrible weeks" trying to fight off the virus.
She initially started to recover, but took a turn for the worse and was diagnosed with a chest infection.
After a quick call to her GP, she was rushed to Bedford Hospital in the UK and was told she had developed sepsis.
She was placed in a medically induced coma for almost a month, where her heartbroken family were twice told that the hospital was going to withdraw care if Caroline didn't improve.
Writing on her blog, Caroline likened her experience of being in a coma to being “trapped in a video game”.
“When the game was switched off, so was I,” she wrote.
“When the game was switched on, my experience was disembodied white heads coming towards me and telling me ‘Caroline, Caroline, wake up’.”
Much to the hospital's surprise, Caroline started to recover with her vitals starting to heal after a month in the coma.
However, as she had been in the coma for so long, her limited blood flow was directed to her brain and vital organs. This means her hands and feet had turned black and died.
“They were now a source of pain and a hindrance as she could not use them anymore, so had to be amputated,” Her daughter Hannah, 24, wrote.
Caroline explained to the BBC that her hands looked like an "Egyptian mummy".
“They were black and shrivelled. I was so grateful to have my life that it wasn’t a huge jolt to lose those,” She said.
As her family have been forced to fundraise for Caroline to afford the massive amount of adaptions and specialist equipment that she now needs for her daily life, they started a JustGiving page.
“She is at peace with the loss of her hands and feet, as they are not what make her the person she is,” writing on a JustGiving page, Caroline’s daughter Hannah said.
“She has faced this challenge with a positivity and determination that few of us could match.
“However, the reality is that she will require a huge amount of adaptations and specialised equipment in order to be able to live a normal, independent life, return to hobbies and stay in the home she loves.
“Sadly, government and NHS funding for many of the items we need is very limited.
“The money raised will go towards lots of things, including adaptations around the home, a bathroom she can use independently, private hand prosthetics, and mobility aids.”
In just over a month, Caroline's JustGiving page has raised over $95,246.