A mum was left in a coma and now faces losing her fingers after a dog bite gave her sepsis.
Michelle Ellis suffered a small wound after the family pooch bit her, but did not think much of it at the time.
But she soon started to experience flu-like symptoms which lasted several days, Devon Live reports.
She was admitted to hospital on January 16 where she was found to be suffering from sepsis – the body’s extreme response to an infection.
Her family said her organs began to shut down and she was placed on life support.
The mum-of-four, of Plymouth, Devon, was put into an induced coma and placed on a dialysis machine, but has since been woken up.
Relatives are now raising money to aid her rehabilitation and any other costs, as well as for “a little treat” when she starts to recover.
All of her fingers will be amputated after she suffered damage to her hands due to lack of blood and oxygen to them, her sister Melanie Ellis wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Michelle's daughter Keana, 24, said her mum had thought nothing of the dog bite because it didn't seem like a problem.
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She added: “The dog is going to be put down, but it is actually the family dog – he's always been a little bit funny, but I think something was going on, she tried to put him in his cage and he bit her, but it was a tiny bite – around the size of a cigarette burn – so nothing was thought of it and she left it, and then this happened.”
She said it has been an incredibly tough time, made more difficult because her and her siblings have not been able to visit their mum.
This is partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, but also because she was only woken up from her coma for the first time several days ago.
She said: “We're not allowed to go and visit her at the moment, which is making it a lot harder. The hardest thing is that we weren't expecting this at all.
"My mind now is set on raising as much money as we can with the fundraiser and raising awareness, so that she has a good quality of life when she does get better.”
Melanie Ellis, Michelle’s sister, described her on the fundraising page as “such a busy person, always helping others”.
Although “it’s a worry how she will cope at the prospect of losing her fingers”, she said the family hopes she regains “her lust for life” and flourishes with her new hands.
- Dogs
- Animals
- Family
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