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A woman’s limbs have been amputated after she contracted sepsis from what is believed to be a dog lick.
Manjit Sangha spent 32 weeks in hospital and had several cardiac arrests after falling unwell. She warned that cases such as hers “could happen to anybody”.
Doctors say the 52-year-old mayhave developed sepsis from something innocuous, potentially a lick from her dog on a small cut.
Sepsis is a serious medical condition that occurs when the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection and starts attacking the body’s own tissues and organs.
The UK Sepsis Trust estimates that there are around 50,000 sepsis-related deaths in the UK each year.
Sangha spent 32 weeks in hospital, experiencing cardiac arrests and multiple surgeries. Photo / Supplied / Kam Sangha
Sangha returned home feeling unwell on a Sunday afternoon in July last year.
The following morning, she was unconscious, her feet were cold, her lips had turned blue and she was struggling to breathe.
Her husband, Kam Sangha, said the speed at which she declined was alarming.
He said: “One minute on a Saturday she’s playing with the dog, Sunday she’s gone to work, Monday night she’s in a coma.”
Sangha’s heart stopped six times while in intensive care at New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton.
As her condition spread, surgeons had to amputate both of her legs below the knee, as well as both of her hands, and removed her spleen as she also battled pneumonia and gallstones.
Sangha, a distribution worker at Screwfix, said he had been off work for seven months to support his wife.
“She’s so strong,” the 60-year-old said, adding: “She proved us wrong every single day with what she’s been through.”
The former pharmacy worker is now fundraising for advanced prosthetics and raising awareness of the dangers of sepsis.
The couple, who celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary in hospital, have raised more than £22,000 through a GoFundMe webpage and fundraising at Screwfix.
Sangha said she was now determined to walk again and to return to work.
“I’ve sat down in my chair and my bed enough. It’s time to walk now.”
The case comes after June Baxter, a retired legal secretary, was found to have died last year after suffering an infection caused by a dog licking a wound on her leg.
An inquest found that the 83-year-old had been alone at home when she fell and cut her leg while using a commode.
Her granddaughter arrived at the property in Alleborough, Norfolk, on June 29 with her dog.
Norfolk Coroner’s Court was told that the dog licked Baxter’s wound before paramedics arrived and she started to feel unwell the following day.
Tests revealed the presence of pasteurella multocida, a bacteria commonly found in the mouths of animals, and Baxter died from septic shock on July 7.
Secondary causes of death included kidney, liver and heart conditions.
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