A young woman who was left fighting for her life after a flesh-eating disease destroyed her limbs and stomach has spoken of her recovery journey.
Medics told Emma Doherty's mum her daughter had just a a 0.02 per cent chance of survival after Emma was placed into a an induced coma after doctors discovered she had sepsis.
She remained in a coma for 39 days - with mum Marie advised on several occasions to turn off her life support, and told that Emma would have 'no quality of life' due to the condition, reports LancsLive.
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Doctors warned that Emma could be left with just one arm and no legs after necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as the flesh-eating disease, destroyed her limbs and her stomach. When Emma, now 37, was finally able to be discharged, at the height of the Covid pandemic, she decided to move from her home in London to Lancashire to be closer to her family but since then she has suffered setback after setback.
Emma revealed that social services placed her in a care home, where every day she would see residents who had died from Covid being taken away, before being offered accommodation at a Blackpool B&B on the Promenade. This was also unsuitable as her wheelchair, which she is now confined to, couldn't fit through the door.
Mum Marie began working 15-hour shifts at Sainsbury's in order to save up the money to pay for somewhere privately for Emma and, thanks to "an angel sent from God" who runs the Swans Rest Holiday Lodges and Cottages in Poulton, the pair are finally living in suitable accommodation, albeit forced to find an extra £400 to pay their rent.
Over the last two years Emma has made little progress as the pandemic took its toll on the NHS. She has undergone extensive skin grafts which have left the majority of her stomach covered in skin which is just 2mm thick meaning Emma is constantly fearful of the slightest cut or injury which could expose her internal organs.
"It's been horrific and I know that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my mum," Emma told LancsLive. "They told her I had just a 0.02 per cent chance of survival when I was in the coma but she refused to let them turn off the machines keeping me alive."
Emma then suffered a second tragedy when, last March, her mum was admitted to hospital with sepsis in a cruel coincidence. Emma struggled to cope with the situation and at one point barricaded herself into her home amid fears she would lose her mum to the potentially fatal infection which had almost claimed her own life.
Although much of Emma's body has been left with dreadful scarring caused by the skin grafts she has been told that the NHS deem them to be "cosmetic" and, as such, she is not entitled to have restorative surgery. She has also been waiting for "emergency surgery" to repair a hernia.
"For two years people have been telling me I should set up a GoFundMe page," Emma said. "But I felt embarrassed and was too scared to do it. Then when my mum was ill I realised I had to find a way to be more independent because I know she's not going to be around forever."
On her GoFundMe page Emma, who was a top cross country runner before her illness, describes how she hopes to raise money to buy a lightweight wheelchair, a hoist and ramp for the car, an anti stumble electronic prosthetic leg, hydrotherapy and private physio as the NHS currently only provides her with one 30-minute session a week.
Emma now bravely shares her story and progress on her TikTok page in a bid to raise awareness about necrotizing fasciitis. She adds that her mum is her "rock" and has helped her through the nightmare that has been the last two years.
To contact Emma, or to donate to her fundraiser, visit her GoFundMe page.
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