Mum who lost three limbs and all of her fingers after doctors failed to spot sepsis
A MOTHER who lost both legs and her right arm after doctors failed to spot she had sepsis is taking legal action.
Magdalena Malec, 31, also had to have the fingers of her left hand amputated after contracting the killer disease in hospital.
She had needed a kidney transplant to save her life after having an ectopic preg-nancy, in which the baby grows outside the womb.
Luton and Dunstable Uni-versity Hospital has apolo-gised and accepted the blun-der could have been avoided.
Mrs Malec said: ‘Now my life is not a life, it is a fight for life. I was waiting for six months for the amputation of my limbs, with stinking and decaying legs and arms.
‘Nothing will restore what I had. I will never paint my nails again, I will never make a ponytail for my daughter. I do not trust doctors.’
Mrs Malec, who is mother to Paulina, nine, and Severin, seven, discovered she was pregnant with her third child in December 2014. But she and her husband Robert were devastated to be told later she had had a miscarriage.
She continued suffering heavy bleeding and stomach cramps, but was sent home from A&E with painkillers and anti-sickness tablets. She returned to the hospital on Christmas Day and was told she had had an ectopic preg-nancy, which requires urgent surgery to remove the affected fallopian tube and unviable foetus.
While in recovery her limbs became gangrenous, causing her body tissue to die. She later learned it was caused by a loss of blood supply due to medical staff not recognising the classic warning signs for sepsis and failing to follow their own sepsis protocol.
Mrs Malec had to wait six months for surgery to ampu-tate her limbs, and had to return to hospital three times a week for dialysis, with each session lasting up to four hours. During this time, her relationship with Robert also broke down because of the pressures of her disabilities.
‘Nothing will restore what I had,’ said Mrs Malec, from Luton. ‘I have been left on my own, starting with relearning how to walk, comb my hair, eat, and brush my teeth.
‘The only thing I dream about is decent living condi-tions with my disability and prostheses which will allow me to live as normally as pos-sible. Coping with the way people look at me is very difficult, and so is self-acceptance.’
Last month, the Scottish Government announced a major sepsis awareness drive, following a campaign by the Scottish Daily Mail.
Adverts highlighting sepsis will run on television, radio and in the Press, while post-ers will be displayed at around 1,200 high street pharmacies.
The NHS has apologised unreservedly to Mrs Malec. She has received an interim payment to help alleviate her financial hardship and is expected to receive a further payout.
Her lawyer David Thomas, of Simpson Millar solicitors, said: ‘Despite recent aware-ness campaigns, mistakes such as this are still happen-ing. It’s tragic.’
A spokesman for Luton & Dunstable University Hospi-tal said: ‘We convey our sin-cere apologies to Mrs Malec. We undertook an investiga-tion to examine what improve-ments could be put in place... to prevent similar cases.’