WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS IMAGES SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND DISTRESSING
A woman has told of her medical nightmare after shaving her bikini line went wrong.
Dana Sedgewick, 44, nearly lost her legs and was in a coma for nine days after she used a new razor on her public line and developed a shocking reaction.
Credit: Hotspot Media
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After shaving, she noticed a small spot which kept bleeding, but she ignored it as she 'often got a rash from shaving'. Two days later, she started feeling dizzy and nauseous. She went to the doctors, who prescribed antibiotics and took swabs.
Later that day, her daughter discovered Dana in bed with a huge red rash covering her legs. Her GP later called to say that she had a serious bacterial infection and needed to come back into the surgery. When she got to the doctors, she collapsed.
Unfortunately, she had developed necrotising fasciitis, which is a flesh-eating infection.
She was left with horrific injuries as a result.
She required 21 operations after the shave in May 2012. Doctors told her that she may never walk again.
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Dana told Metro: "By the time I got to the hospital, my legs were covered in black, rotting flesh. It was touch-and-go as to whether I'd make it."
"Like a lot of women, I tried to keep a tidy bikini line. So I had a quick trim with a new razor," she explained. Little did she know that the shave would lead to injuries like these.
After she collapsed, she was taken to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. They told her that the condition was causing bacteria to release toxins that attack the surrounding soft tissue.
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She explained: "By the time I got to the hospital, my legs were covered in black, rotting flesh. It was touch-and-go as to whether I'd make it."
Surgeons spent the next 10 hours battling to save her legs from amputation. They cut through seven inches of infected skin and removed it, replacing it with skin from her back.
She went into septic shock, her kidneys failed, and her heart stopped four times. She was given just a 30 percent chance of survival.
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Credit: Hotspot Media
Luckily, she survived.
She said: "When I woke up, my legs were covered in bandages and I had no idea what had happened. I thought I'd been in a car accident.
"But when the surgeon asked me if I remembered shaving, I suddenly recalled trimming my bikini line.
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"He told me that the spot on my groin had become infected, and I'd been very lucky to survive."
She was taken to a burns unit and saw underneath her bandages for the first time. She said: "It was horrific. All of my muscle had rotted away, and I had a crater of skin near my groin. I felt like I was going to throw up.
"But I knew that it could have been much, much worse. I could easily have lost my legs - or worse, died."
Bloody hell. Thankfully, she survived.
Sepsis is rare, but can be deadly. If you believe that you might be suffering from it, check here to see if you have the symptoms and then ensure you seek medical attention immediately.
Featured Image Credit: Hotspot MediaTopics: Death