Mum-of-three Priscilla Dray, from France, said she developed an infection after her abortion which doctors refused to give her antibiotics for – leading to all her limbs being amputated
The husband of a woman who developed life-threatening sepsis and lost all her limbs after having an abortion told doctors “you ruined it, you ruined our life” as they faced charges in court.
Mum-of-three Priscilla Dray, from France, said she was in “great shape” when she arrived for the abortion at the Pellegrin University Hospital, Bordeaux, in 2011 – but that she developed an infection which doctors refused to give her antibiotics for. Aged 36 at the time of the procedure, Priscilla claims she was “massacred” and “left to die”, with all four of her limbs amputated as a result of her going into septic shock.
Her husband, David Dray, recalled how the couple met 36 years ago before having their first child, a boy, followed by two others. “We built our life and our business together”, the businessman said. Mr Dray said the pair shared a happy life in love, accompanied by a “comfortable professional situation” until July 23, 2011, the day after Priscilla Dray’s abortion, and the day when “everything changed”. Addressing the doctors being investigated in the case, he said: “You ruined it, you ruined our life.”
Mr Dray also spoke about his wife’s hand transplant, performed in the US, her recovery, and other health problems she was battling at the time. “She almost died a second time (…) She contracted the Covid virus, her kidneys and lungs stopped, then internal bleeding.”
Attacking the doctors, who he said were responsible for her current condition, he added: “They enjoy life, their family, their holidays at the seaside (…) being able to simply live. For my wife, for 14 years, all that is over. And by ricochet, for our whole family, all these moments of happiness are to be banned. The truth is that in my wife’s case, the hospital is not fighting for the truth or questioning itself. What they are concerned about is only the financial penalties.”
Priscilla had developed a “flesh-eating bacteria” sepsis after her abortion which began eating into her limbs and required amputations. She told the M6 programme Zone Interdite: “I trusted [them] and this is the state they put me in. They killed me, and normally I should have died.”
Her chance of survival was estimated at only 5% on July 24, just two days after her abortion, France3 reports. She went on to develop necrosis, linked to the septic shock, and was transferred to intensive care for severe burns. By the end of August, they made the decision to amputate. “To this day, I still don’t understand why I was left to die in that maternity ward,” she told Pourquoi Docteur in 2017.
The mum decided to have the abortion shortly after the birth of her third child and could not see the baby for three months. Explaining how the horror procedure changed her life, she said: “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.”
She continued: “It’s my three children who give me this energy she said, asked how she overcomes the challenges of daily life. 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.”
The Bordeaux University Hospital was ordered to pay 300,000 euros as a provision for future compensation in 2017. A one-year suspended sentence was requested for Martial D. and a 16-month suspended sentence for François V., both doctors, along with suspensions from practicing for several weeks.
