BOTCHED TUMMY TUCK OP NEARLY KILLED ME
Kerrie, 26, tells of her horror sepsis ordeal
A WOMAN has told how botched surgery in Poland left her fighting for her life after she developed deadly sepsis.
Kerrie Wilkes’s immune system overreacted to an infection picked up during a tummy tuck at a clinic we cannot name for legal reasons.
The 26-year-old from Glasgow said: “After surgery, everything felt fine. I knew I would have some level of pain after an operation.
“I had no idea I would be left fighting for my life a week later.”
She stayed in Poland for a week to recuperate but knew that she wasn’t receiving the care she was promised.
She said: “When I visited the clinic for aftercare, my temperature and my blood were never taken.”
Kerrie began to feel unwell while she was in Poland but didn’t receive aid until she flew home.
Salon owner Kerrie visited A&E and she was prescribed antibiotics but she was rushed to Glasgow Royal Infirmary within 24 hours for emergency surgery after doctors spotted sepsis.
She said: “I could barely walk, my stitches were coming away and I remember there being this awful smell coming from the bandages.”
Surgeons reopened Kerrie’s stitches to clean out the area before draining the infection.
She said: “When I woke up three days later, the surgeon said the infection was so high he couldn’t believe I was still alive.
“My body had started to attack my own organs. It’s like a bad dream rather than a memory.”
Kerrie warned others that going under the knife abroad isn’t worth the risk.
She said: “Yes, I had a flat stomach but I nearly paid the ultimate price.”
She has launched a T-shirt collection through her online boutique and £3 will be donated to a sepsis charity for each one sold.
Visit www.stopsepsis. org.uk for information.