Woman loses her hands and feet after going into septic shock after giving birth
Dominic Smithers
Featured Image Credit: KHOU 11
A woman had to have her hands and feet amputated when she nearly died after giving birth.
Krystina Pacheco, from Texas, welcomed her second child, Amelia, into the world last October.
While the labour itself was fairly standard - the 29-year-old underwent a C-section - things took a turn for the worse when she returned home.
A couple of days after leaving the hospital, Krystina started to feel a little unwell, experiencing some shortness of breath and nausea.
Advert
Initially, her nurse put the symptoms down to the pregnancy, and the young mum was prescribed some painkillers.
However, when the symptoms failed to go away, Krystina was eventually air-lifted to San Antonio hospital.
Medics there diagnosed her with septic shock, which is occurs when a person's blood pressure plummets following an infection, and can be fatal.
Speaking to ABC News about the terrifying ordeal, she said she 'couldn't breathe or see anymore', and began 'slowly fading out'.
"My husband, I could just hear him saying, 'Please come back to us, please, your babies need you. I need you. I need you to be here and help me with our babies', and that's the last thing I remember," Krystina told the outlet.
While doctors were able to keep the mum alive, the treatment stopped blood flow to her hands and feet, and they had to be amputated.
"My hands and feet were black," Krystina recalled. "They looked like a person who had gotten frostbite.
"I was just breaking down and being absolutely crushed. And crying with my family, crying with Jacob, and just being sad that my life would no longer be the same."
But despite the trauma she experienced, Krystina said that she had to survive for her kids.
"They were my number one motivation, hands down," she said.
Since the surgery, she has been learning to live more independently, which she admits hasn't been easy.
"It's a roller coaster, I'm not going to say I don't have my bad days, because I do," she said. "It's an emotional thing to experience."
Praising her bravery, Krystina's husband Jacob said she was an inspiration.
He said: "She's really, really strong. She's kicking rehab butt, for sure.
"We're waiting for the healing process to happen on her legs, but her arms are doing really well, and hopefully we'll be starting the prosthetic training."