Mum forced to have arm amputated days after doctors 'mistook black hand for newspaper ink'
A mum was made to have her arm surgically removed just days after medical experts dismissed the purple and blackish appearance of the limb.
Lorraine Pettie, 52, realised that the fingers on her right hand were changing in colour back in October, with the mum initially believing that this was caused by bruising from finger-prick testing for her diabetes.
But this soon spread from her fingers, down her hand.
Prior to this symptom, the Brit headed to urgent care at an Edinburgh hospital. Lorraine's daughter, Nadia Pettie, claims that a nurse then questioned the mum if she had been reading old newspapers, with the belief that the ink had stained her fingers.
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Nadia, 31, said that her mum didn't read newspapers and added that the hospital thought the mark was a sign of bruising after x-rays showed no broken bones.
Lorraine was then sent home, though when the colouring continued to spread, the family went to another hospital, with doctors there confirming that it was necrotic, caused by a blood clot.
Necrotic refers to a dead tissue, which can appear brown or black as a result of poor blood supply, say the NHS.
The former chef was subsequently told that her arm would need to be amputated as an operation revealed that the necrosis had spread internally.
She had spent a month in hospital before being discharged home, but the mum's health didn't improve, and Lorraine passed away in her sleep on 28 December.
Both Nadia and her aunt, Alexis Pettie, believe that Lorraine's life could have been saved if the deadly condition was caught earlier.
Edinburgh-native Nadia explained: "When we went to the Western General, a nurse in minor injuries said 'have you been looking at newspapers because it looks like ink on your fingers'.
"They said 'it's like you've been holding onto an old newspaper and the ink has come off onto your fingers'."
She said that her mum was a 'germ-freak' who didn't read newspapers or books, claiming: "As soon as they looked at the x-ray and saw there were no broken bones, they weren't really interested."
Alexis explained that they tested her blood due to her diabetes, believing it could be bruising caused by the health condition, as she even believed that 'maybe she'd banged it or something'.
"Then on October 18th 2024 it started spreading up her fingers onto her hand," she revealed, comparing the appearance to frostbite.
Her sister added: "After the x-ray, they said that nothing was broken and it was bruising and muscle damage.
"I'm assuming they thought she'd banged it and sent her home."
Lorraine's trip to The Royal Infirmary, another hospital, was more successful though, as the purple stains on her fingers spread down her hand.
Doctors rushed her into surgery to try and remove the clot which onstructed blood flow into her arm, before she was transferred to St John's Hospital in Livingstone where her right arm was amputated.
Alexis pointed out: "I'm astounded (the first hospital) missed it. She went home and she just got worse. It kept creeping up her hand.
"Blood didn't flow back into her arm. They have no idea what actually caused the clot. We don't have any answers as to why that clot happened.
"We were told her body was just one massive infection."
Lorraine died due to heart disease, diabetes and pneumonia, but her family think that her health took a nosedive after the amputation of her arm, with Alexis suggesting that 'she just didn't have the fight anymore'.
She suggested that the first hospital 'holds some responsibility' and her sister may still have been here today.
Nadia said that if they had 'taken it seriously', she believes that her mum wouldn't have needed to have her whole arm cut off.
"It disgusts me. Her arm could've been saved. My mum was my everything," she said.
"We might've had that little bit longer with my mum because it wasn't until her amputation that her health really deteriorated even more," Lorraine said of her mum.
"I don't want someone else to go through the heartache and pain that me and my family went through."
Dr Tracey Gillies, a Medical Director at NHS Lothian, stated: "We extend our deepest condolences to the family of Ms Pettie. We welcome the family's decision to get in contact with us in the last couple of days and we will discuss with them directly."
Joshua Nair