A simple slip in the rain triggered a rare health emergency that changed a Queensland’s mother’s life forever. Michelle Wardrope’s leg was amputated after she contacted a deadly flesh-eating bacteria. She hopes her ordeal will serve as a warning for others.
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00:00What started as a minor cut from slipping on her driveway cost Michelle Wardrope her leg and almost her life.
00:10I just thought it would need a few stitches and everything would be fine after that.
00:14But apparently I was wrong.
00:16The 44-year-old contracted gas gangrene, a rare and deadly bacterial infection that attacks the soft tissue.
00:24Her leg just started to swell up and a really bad smell come from it.
00:30It seriously smelt like death.
00:32The active Ely Beach mum spent 13 days in a coma.
00:36My partner was told I had a 2% chance of survival.
00:40Multiple times he was told to prepare for my funeral.
00:43To save her life, doctors had to amputate her leg from the hip.
00:47I haven't looked at my leg yet. I haven't really had the strength to sort of look at the wound itself.
00:54I still have the phantom leg pains and stuff so my brain still thinks it's there.
00:58Once associated with war wounds, doctors say there are less than 100 cases of gas gangrene in Australia every year.
01:06When we see gas gangrene it's in the context of much more severe trauma, things like motor vehicle accidents
01:12or sometimes we see it in farmers who've maybe come off a tractor or a quad bike or something like that,
01:18usually with a lot of soil contamination.
01:20Gas gangrene is already rare, but contracting it from a minor injury is extremely unlucky.
01:27Doctors say ensuring wounds are properly cleaned is vital to stop infections taking hold.
01:33Michelle Wardrope's ordeal has been taxing and expensive.
01:37Just knowing how close I was to death, it definitely makes you really think about what's important.
01:42Eventually she'll be fitted with a prosthetic leg.
01:45Even the doctors have been astounded by her movements and her healing and her determination.
01:52And she hopes her experience will be a warning.
01:55Because it might be just a small cut, but obviously it can definitely turn into something a lot worse.