A mum-of-two has had all four limbs amputated, despite being hailed a 'medical miracle' after surviving a sepsis battle.
Sadie Kemp, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, has now had 10 fingers amputated, and more recently both legs below the knee after it was confirmed by her doctors that they were both necrotic from the sepsis.
The 35-year-old has now revealed that after going into a septic shock at the end of last year, her two children are the "main reason" why she is "getting on with it”, report Cambridgeshire Live.
Sadie’s sepsis battle began when she was rushed to A&E on Christmas Day in 2021, after mistaking her symptoms of back pain. Despite being given pain relief, the agonising pain proceeded to get worse. And by the early hours of Boxing Day, Sadie collapsed in front of doctors during her return to the hospital.
Two weeks later, the mum recalled walking up from life support.
But, she was shockingly told that she would need to have all four limbs amputated after going into septic shock from a kidney stone which shockingly caused the skin on her arms and legs to become necrotic.
Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency that happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. The immune system starts to damage the body's tissue and organs, or in some cases, they become necrotic.
A septic shock happens when someone with sepsis has a severe drop in blood pressure - and this can be fatal.
However after surviving the ordeal, Sadie, who spent 103 nights at Peterborough City hospital, was classed as a 'medical miracle' by doctors. She had 10 fingers amputated and went through extensive recovery.
She returned home to her two sons, Kenzie, 17, and Hendrix, two, in April this year, and waited for news about her double leg amputation.
In August - just a few months later - Sadie was given news that she had to undergo a double amputation on her legs at a hospital in London.
However, the 35-year-old has revealed that she was always aware that she needed to have both legs amputated, but said when it came to the day of the operation “It felt like my whole world had been turned upside down."
She went on to explain: "Because I had learnt how to walk using my boots on the feet it was like I was going backwards to go forward. It was like I was taking a step backwards in my recovery and to be able to be independent again”.
Days after the amputation, Sadie was able to return home, but revealed she was 'nervous' about how her family and children would react.
She said: “I was a bit nervous about my children’s reactions to how my legs looked but they were absolutely fine, it was like nothing had happened. It was really good to be home”.
Sadie has now been using a wheelchair and was ‘casted up’ to receive two prosthetic legs on October 4.
She also went on to document her experience on TikTok, and shared her day-to-day life with her followers.
Speaking of her excitement about getting them, she said: “I’m excited, I’m excited to get legs again, wear what I want again and to be able to do things for myself. I’m really looking forward to it”.
She went on to add: “I’m feeling really positive, I can’t wait to get socialising again”.
Looking back on the year she's had Sadie explained that it's been a bit of a whirlwind.
The 35-year-old said: “I kind of still don't believe that it's happened to me. I don't know if that's me not accepting it and just getting on or if it’s going to hit me a year or a few months down the line that it's actually happened to me.
“But I think I’m getting on with it and I think the only reason I am is because I'm a mum and I have two kids, so it's my main reason why I'm getting on with it”.
The mum of two has undergone several operations on her hands since leaving hospital in April, and has a few more “very minor operations” but will “get up and going walking on my legs first and then have those done”.
Following this, Sadie is hoping to get two fully functioning prosthetic hands, adding that without these “It's going be very difficult for me to put on prosthetic legs with no hands”.
A GoFundMe page which was set up by Sadie’s friends whilst she was on life support is helping to raise money in order for Sadie to get the two fully functioning robotic prosthetic hands, which cost £35,000 each.
And, so far they have raised a staggering £48,791, needing to secure £70,000 in total for both with Sadie continuing to raise money for them.
In order to thank the critical care team who looked after her at Peterborough City Hospital Sadie held a fundraising event in the summer where she raised £2,011. On her 35th birthday, Sadie visited the critical care team to give them the money.
Sadie explained: "They saved my life and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be seeing another birthday."
And as well as raising money, Sadie has started delivering mindset talks to children at schools and colleges, sharing her own sepsis story, talking about a positive mindset and how to achieve goals, saying: “All I want to do is help people, so being a motivational speaker is amazing."
Having previously been a Covid technician Sadie said she’s “on to another path now,” adding: “I can’t dwell on what I had, I’ve just got to focus on what I have now and what I can build on." And added that: “Laughter is definitely the best medicine”.
You can donate to Sadie's GoFundMe page here.
