Ella Clarke, 31, was a happy mother of seven, but recent events have been less than joyous. After going in for what she thought would be an ordinary C-section, things quickly took a turn for the worst. Little did she know, she’d wake up six days later, only to look down and be completely horrified to see what was missing – and it wasn’t just her baby bump.
According to the mom, both she and her husband Ian Ross, 32, wanted to have a large family and set out to do just that. Although others thought they were nuts for having child number six together (Ella had her oldest daughter before meeting Ian), the loving couple didn’t seem to mind.
“I was a baby-making machine, but we loved our growing family,” Ella said. “We had seven amazing children and were such a close family.”
When she felt all the familiar signs, such as morning sickness, they were delighted to see yet another positive pregnancy test. Although much of the pregnancy went according to plan, doctors later made her aware of a possible problem.
About half-way through her pregnancy, doctors told Ella that she was suffering from placenta previa, a low-lying placenta. According to Mail Online, “If not given proper attention, the condition can cause trouble at the time of delivery due to excessive bleeding and a C-section section may be needed.”
As Ella made it all the way up to week 36 without a problem, you can imagine her surprise when she began to bleed rather heavily. Seeing how this was a symptom of her condition, doctors quickly made the decision to take her into surgery and perform the C-section right then and there – but things didn’t turn out as expected.
Despite the fact that Ella had done this several times before and wasn’t all too worried, she lost quite a bit of blood during the procedure. In all, doctors say she needed five blood transfusions, totaling 6 liters of blood, in order to stay alive.
Doctors then made the decision to put the new mother in a medically induced coma in hopes that her body would rest and heal itself. For those unaware, when in such a state, the body is prone to other issues, such as blood clots, which need hourly supervision to ensure this doesn’t take place.
Unfortunately, Ella believes that there was a 6-hour gap where no one checked on her, resulting not only in blood clots forming, but her legs being deprived of oxygen. Doctors would once again take her into surgery to clear the clots, but as her flesh had begun to die, it was releasing deadly toxins into her body.
The only option doctors had was to amputate her legs below the knee and hope for the best. When Ella woke up 5 days later, thinking she had just completed her C-section, you can imagine her horror to look down and see that her legs were missing.
“Going into (the) hospital to have a baby should have been the best moment of my life,” the devastated mother explained. “Instead, my world has been shattered. I was an active mum doing the school runs and chasing my family around the garden. Now, I’m the complete opposite. I might never be able to run after my children or stand next to them. No human being should ever have to experience this after it could have so easily been avoided.”
Ella has since been confined to a wheelchair, but her fight is far from over. She’s trying to get back on her feet again with the help of prosthetics, and she’s also looking at legal action against the hospital.
The goal of any medical facility is to have patients leave better than they came in – and that wasn’t the case with Ella. There are protocols and precautions hospitals have to follow, and it seems as though some were clearly neglected here. For that reason, those responsible need to suffer some kind of consequence as a mother is now forced to spend the rest of her life without legs. To think that this could have all been avoided only makes it that much worse.
