A primary school teacher lost both her legs after going to bed with flu-like symptoms on New Year's Eve.
Mum-of-two Julianna Bransden began feeling unwell while celebrating Christmas with her mum, dad and siblings. After going to bed with flu-like symptoms on New Year's Eve, Julianna's condition deteriorated dramatically the following day, LancsLive reports.
Her condition turned out to be far worse than her family first thought. Julianna "could not lift her head off the pillow" and was unable to check her phone for over a day, according to her husband, Tim.
She felt unable to "sit in A&E for six to eight hours" or even get in the car, so Tim called 111 and call-handlers advised Julianna to get some rest as she was only on day two of having a fever and was young, fit and healthy. However, Tim instinctively called an ambulance, which arrived at their home within five minutes.
"The doctors told us after that Julianna's body was basically compensating for her and had hidden how bad and ill she really was," said Julianna's sister Jac. "She's young and healthy but suddenly fell off a cliff. In a timeframe of 30 minutes, her heart had stopped twice."
Within an hour or two of Julianna being admitted into hospital, her mum got a call from medics explaining that she had sepsis and needed to be on a ventilator. As a result, Julianna spent 66 days in ICU, where she was treated for septic shock and organ failure.
Jac added: "They said Julianna was in a 10 litre hydration deficit and was in septic shock. When she first went into hospital, she was so dehydrated they said that her lips looked like if you touched them, they would have cracked completely."
Doctors found that Julianna had aggressive pneumonia, influenza and invasive Strep A on the day she was admitted on New Year's Day. At 9pm that evening, the family were told she may not make it through the night.
"There was a nurse there that had been working for eight years, one for 22 and another for 10 and they all said they've never seen a patient crash that dramatically," Jac continued. "It's just been crazy."
Julianna, who lives in Pembrokeshire, South Wales, was admitted to hospital with Jac describing the staff as "phenomenal". As a vet, Jac is used to being in medical environments, but said seeing her own sister in that situation was "just horrible."
In total, Julianna has spent over two months in ICU, being given one-on-one around-the-clock care and full life support. After weeks of fighting for her life, she awoke with severe damage to her hands and feet, having to undergo surgery to have both of her legs amputated below the knee.
She will also lost most of her fingers, as they've been severely affected by the sepsis. Jac said: "We were just desperately praying that she would just survive. I think with sepsis, people just think you either die or you survive.
"But with Julianna's condition, we want to raise awareness that it's not just being in hospital and being a life or death situation." She added: "We're now very confident that she's coming home. Her character as well, she's determined she's not going anywhere."
After being in an induced coma for three weeks, doctors wanted Julianna to attempt to communicate with them. On the first day, they tried to get her to blink in response to questions.
On the second day, the nurse informed Julianna's mum that she had started talking, a milestone that usually takes patients at least five days.
"She's been scarily stoic and super resilient," Jac said. She's not just smiling for the pictures, she genuinely is. The only time she changed was when we were going through the Go Fund Me and she only got upset because I was upset.
"She's doing so well, I just can't imagine what it's like to not even be able to have a good cry and wipe away your own tears. She's a superstar." Julianna is mother to "two beautiful kids," William, 11 and Emilia, 14. Having been a primary school teacher for the last 19 years, she's dedicated her life to helping children and as well as the last ten years to the community through her work in the rural school of Llanmiloe in South Wales.
Working through her recovery, Julianna will return to her home in a wheelchair and the family are raising vital funds for her home to be adapted, as well as to pay for her prosthetics and anything else she may need in the future. Jac said: "She's got a long road ahead of her, rebuilding her muscles that have basically disappeared and finding new ways of using her hands.
"She was a really good pianist, so she may not be able to do that again. But we are feeling incredibly blessed and thankful. She's improving and that's something we never would have dreamed of a few weeks ago." Every penny donated to the fundraising page will go towards giving Julianna and her family a better quality of life and an environment where she is able to thrive in, especially as she gains more independence.
Julianna and Jac say they want to raise awareness of sepsis and the idea of following your gut if you feel something is wrong. That night, Tim's quick-thinking by calling an ambulance saved his wife's life, but not everyone's story is a success.
You can donate to Julianna's recovery journey by visiting their Go Fund Me page here.
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