In 2011, Priscilla Dray’s life changed forever after she went into septic shock and had to have all four limbs amputated – a trauma she’s compared to being ‘massacred’. She has however found ways to cope with her new reality
A mum who was left “massacred” after having all four limbs amputated has spoken out about how she manages to cope in the aftermath of an ordeal that changed the course of her life forever.
After undergoing an abortion at Bordeaux’s Pellegrin University Hospital, Priscilla Dray began to notice worrying symptoms, with her temperature soaring to 39.6C. In a tragic error, an intern put her symptoms down to endometriosis, a condition whereby tissue similar to that found in the uterus grows in other parts of a patient’s body.
What they didn’t realise at that time was that Priscilla, then 36 at the time of her 2011 abortion, had in fact contracted sepsis – a life-threatening condition which occurs when a patient’s immune system reacts in an extreme way to an infection, resulting in organ damage, and even death.
Priscilla’s condition deteriorated at an alarming pace, and, by the time she was rushed back to hospital, the mum-of-three was struggling to breathe, while “flesh-eating” infection wreaked havoc on her body. Doctors were then forced to amputate both legs, as well as her right forearm and left hand.
More than 13 years since her horror ordeal, Priscilla’s case is now in court, with two doctors appearing at a Bordeaux court earlier this week over charges of causing involuntary injuries with incapacity.
Reflecting on how her life had changed in the years since, during a 2018 interview with Sud Ouest, Priscilla explained: “Someone helps me every day at home. For every daily task, you have to be able to adapt and organise yourself. The hardest part is to come to terms with it and tell yourself that there are things you can no longer do yourself. It’s hard.”
Explaining how she’s found strength to cope with her new reality, Priscilla continued: “It’s my three children who give me this energy. Without them, I wouldn’t have had the same strength. And I still live with the hope of repairing myself. I’m dependent on progress in medicine and technology.”
As per local news reports, Priscilla was given just a five per cent shot at survival after being brough back into hospital. She developed necrosis – related to the septic shock – and was transferred to an intensive care unit for patents with severe burns.
The decision that would have a devastating impact on her life. Speaking on the M6 programme Zone Interdite, Priscilla shared: “I trusted [them] and this is the state they put me in. They killed me, and normally I should have died.”
As explained by the NHS, sepsis can be difficult to spot, however, symptoms to look out for include shortness of breath, confusion, slurred speech, blotchy skin, and changes in temperature, such as a fever. Dr Deepali Misra-Sharp, NHS GP and Women’s health specialist, previously told the Mirror: “The most concerning aspect is the apparent failure to diagnose and treat sepsis early.
“In the UK, the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) is used to assess deteriorating patients, and any patient with a persistently high temperature, tachycardia, or signs of infection would be red-flagged for urgent intervention. Sepsis screening tools (e.g., the Sepsis Six pathway) help identify at-risk patients quickly, emphasizing the importance of early antibiotics and escalation to hospital care.”
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