A woman was hospitalised due to a potentially deadly blood infection and had to have part of her thumb removed after ripping off an acrylic nail.
Thirty-three-year-old Cherie Newman from Kent removed the acrylic nails herself and accidentally tore off her own nail while doing it *shudder*. Four weeks later she was left in agonising pain and faced the prospect of having her entire thumb removed after contracting sepsis.
Cherie said she was too busy looking after her four children to notice that the cut on her thumb hadn't been healing. But after visiting a doctor for an unrelated illness she was told she needed urgent treatment at hospital, as the tip of her thumb had gone purple. I hope you're not eating your breakfast.
Credit: Caters News Agency
Advert
She underwent surgery and the tip of her thumb had to be removed. Cherie is now speaking out to warn others about the dangers of acrylic nails.
She said: "I didn't think anything of the cut because it was so small, so I left it alone and completely forgot about it.
"However, in August it started to ooze with puss, so I decided to bring it up in a GP appointment that I had booked for the end of the week.
"Still thinking nothing of it, I was shocked when on the day of my appointment my thumb had changed colour and began tracking up my arm.
"It was obvious that it was infected, but I didn't think that the doctor would send me straight to hospital to get rid of the infection.
Credit: Caters News Agency
Advert
"But as soon as I got there I started to feel horribly ill - I had shivers, nausea, dizziness and I was constantly close to passing out."
She ended up having to spend six days in hospital, where she was treated for septicaemia - which led to sepsis - and had two operations to help clear the infection.
Cherie said: "I had no idea that removing a fake nail could cause blood poisoning.
"The pain was absolutely agonising after the operation, having the skin of my thumb and my nail removed left my thumb completely sensitive.
"When the sepsis kicked in my thumb turned purple, but after the operations it was red raw and had to be dressed in bandages to heal.
"Because the top of my thumb was removed, I now have no feeling in it and I'm prone to infection.
"But despite going through the pain of the operations, I'm thankful that I still have my thumb as it could be a completely different story if I'd left it any longer."
Credit: Caters News Agency
Advert
Cherie was awake for one of the operations, but when this wasn't successful she had to go under aesthetic.
She said: "It wasn't until two days later, when I had my dressing removed that I saw the top of my thumb had been taken off and the nail had been removed.
"I was shocked, but I was told it was either that or my thumb would be removed."
Cherie says she would still wear acrylics in the future, but would never attempt to remove them herself.
Sepsis affects 250,000 people every year, according to UK Sepsis Trust. From that total, 44,000 die and 60,000 are left with 'life-changing after effects'.
Featured Image Credit: Caters News Agency