A teacher has had her legs amputated and is due to lose most of her fingers weeks after after coming down with flu-like symptoms.
Julianna Bransden, 44, is a primary school teacher from Narberth, Pembrokeshire, and says she first started feeling ill last Christmas.
The mum's condition deteriorated and by New Year's Eve she was "stuck in bed," reports Wales Online.
Julianna's husband Tim said she "could not lift her head of the pillow" and wasn't well enough to even check her phone or get in the car.
He called 111 for advice and it was advised that his wife should continue to rest, but his decision to call an ambulance saved her life.
Her sister Jac Burgess, who lives in Lancashire, says Julianna's heart stopped twice in half an hour.
Soon after the mum arrived at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest doctors informed the family she had sepsis and required a ventilator.
They also discovered Julianna had influenza, invasive Strep A, and aggressive pneumonia and warned that she might not make it through the night.
Since then she has spent 66 days in ICU for septic shock and organ failure.
Jac said "[The nurses] all said they've never seen a patient crash that dramatically,"
Julianna has received 24-hour care and full-life support as she battled for her life over several weeks.
She experienced severe damage to her hands and feet and has had to have both her legs removed below the knee and will lose most of her fingers.
She will require a wheelchair when she returns to her home in Narberth and her family has started fundraising to cover the costs.
Jualianna's house will also have to be adapted and she is aiming to get prosthetics in the future.
Jac said: "We were just desperately praying that she would just survive....We're now very confident that she's coming home. Her character as well, she's determined she's not going anywhere."
She continued: "She's been scarily stoic and super-resilient. She's not just smiling for the pictures, she genuinely is. The only time she changed was when we were going through the GoFundMe 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, and has been a primary school teacher for the last 19 years.
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."
Donations to the fundraiser for Julianna can be made here.
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