A woman claims she was 'turfed out of A&E' and told to visit the dentist instead - only to discover she had a 'life-threatening' infection that caused her entire face to balloon 'like the Elephant Man'.
Amy Hemsworth woke up with a toothache and a mouth full of ulcers on Wednesday 25th May, that persisted despite taking painkillers and antibiotics.
In just two days the right side of her face swelled until she was unable to see out of that eye or eat and was forced to go to A&E.
The 28-year-old says doctors at Doncaster Royal Infirmary sent her home with a dentist appointment, saying they 'don't treat issues with faces'.
As her swelling continued to worsen over the next few hours Amy was left worrying that something more sinister was going on and rushed to Rotherham General Hospital that night.
There doctors admitted her immediately and revealed she had a serious infection that had travelled from her tooth up to her eye and was close to spreading to her brain - where it could have killed her.
Amy, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, said: "I just started with a toothache that just wouldn't go.
"I thought I probably needed a filling or something like that but it was a nightmare trying to get through to the dentist.
"I woke up on the Friday and my face was like a balloon, it was absolutely huge and was just rising by the hour.
"I felt like the Elephant Man and there were abscesses everywhere in my mouth."
The Elephant Man was a severely deformed Victorian whose story was turned into a popular 1980 film by director David Lynch.
Amy continued: "I went to Doncaster Hospital and they basically just turfed me out and said they don't deal with faces - the doctor got in touch with my dentist and made me an appointment for that afternoon.
"The dentist gave me antibiotics but when I went home my face just kept swelling and swelling and swelling.
"It got to 6:30pm and that's when I drove to Rotherham Hospital with my mum - they admitted me straight away.
"The infection was getting bigger and the doctor said she'd just dealt with another case like me and the lady ended up in a coma in intensive care because it went straight to her brain.
"The doctor said I was very lucky and if I had left it another six to 12 hours it could have travelled to my brain and I could have been in the same condition as that other lady.
"A few more hours and it could have killed me - all from a toothache!"
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After waking with a toothache in her right lateral incisor on Wednesday 25th May, Amy tried but failed to get through to her dentist to make an appointment.
She then contacted her GP and was prescribed painkillers and antibiotics but says they didn't make any difference and the pain in her tooth left her unable to eat.
Amy then woke on Friday 27th May to find that her face had 'ballooned' overnight and went to the A&E department at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
She says doctors there told her they don't treat issues with faces and sent her home after making her an emergency appointment that afternoon with her dentist, who prescribed more antibiotics.
But as her face continued to swell 'by the hour', she decided to visit Rotherham General Hospital that evening, where she was admitted immediately.
There she says a doctor told her an infection in her tooth had spread to her nose, neck, jaw line, ear and eye and she was at risk of it spreading to her brain and killing her.
Amy said: "A doctor saw me in the waiting room and pulled me into a room straight away and did a blood test and then put me back in the waiting room.
"Next minute they came out with a wheelchair and said because of the pain relief they were going to put me on I should be lying on a bed, so they took me into resus in the back.
"The doctor told me it is a life-threatening infection. It was scary - I didn't realise the severity of it until I spoke to the professionals.
"They put me on IV antibiotics and that kept the swelling at bay and I was given liquid morphine because no other pain relief was touching it, it was so bad.
"I think the way they treated me at Doncaster Hospital was disgusting - you could see how my face was."
Amy spent two nights as an in-patient at Rotherham General Hospital and was given intravenous antibiotics to keep the infection at bay.
On the second day of her stay, Saturday 28th May, she underwent surgery to release the infection building in her gums and allow her swelling to go down.
Amy said: "I had to go under general anaesthetic and they had to cut my gums and drain all of the infection out and stitch it back up.
"It was sore when I woke up but I could touch my tooth whereas before it was a no go - it was such a relief.
"I was nil by mouth for 24 hours for the surgery but I didn't eat properly since before the toothache started on the Wednesday.
"As soon as I had the surgery you could see how much the swelling had gone down and my eye was open - that was the first time my eye was open in 24 hours.
"I was so glad when I got to go home."
Amy has now made a complaint to Doncaster Royal Infirmary about allegedly sending her away when she was suffering from the 'life-threatening' infection.
She is also due to undergo a root canal treatment at her dentist in the upcoming weeks to remove the part of her tooth that the infection stemmed from, to prevent any further issues.
She now hopes to warn people to go to A&E as soon as possible if they experience any swelling or persistent pain, particularly on their face, after discovering first-hand how serious it can be.
Amy said: "Never again will I risk anything like that. It's that scary if it happened to me again I would just go straight to A&E.
"If you've got persistent toothache you need to seek medical advice asap and if you feel any type of swelling or heat in your face you need to see a doctor."
The Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said that Amy had been seen at the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC), which is a service commissioned from Fylde Coast Medical Services (FCMS) by the Doncaster CCG.
A spokesperson for the FCMS said: "FCMS can confirm that a complaint was received in relation to this on 7.06.22.
"It will be thoroughly investigated in line with the NHS guidance for complaints and a response will be sent to the patient."
