A woman developed septic shock following an abortion which saw her forced to have all four limbs amputated after hospital staff made ‘one fatal error.’
Priscilla Dray reportedly said she arrived in “great shape” for the abortion in 2011 at the Pellegrin University Hospital in Bordeaux. But she claims doctors refused to give her antibiotics following an infection.
The French woman, who was 36 at the time, developed necrosis a month after the operation and tragically needed to have both legs, as well as her right forearm and left hand amputated. Two doctors appeared at a Bordeaux court on February 18 over charges of causing involuntary injuries with incapacity.
Ms Dray has told French media how her temperature rose to 39.6C following the procedure with an intern incorrectly believing that she had endometriosis – a condition where cells similar to the lining of the womb grow outside of the uterus. While Ms Dray asked for antibiotics, she was reportedly refused by a doctor and sent home. She later claimed she was “massacred” as her limbs were amputated due to sepsis.
The day following her discharge, on July 24, 2022, Ms Dray visited her doctor in Cap Ferret, who suspected that she might be suffering from septicaemia, prompting her urgent return to the hospital. Her GP provided a note outlining her condition to be handed over to the hospital doctors; however, it is claimed that the hospital staff failed to pass it on while Ms Dray battled breathing difficulties.
As the sepsis, caused by the ‘flesh-eating bacteria’, ravaged her limbs, necessitating amputations, she expressed her feelings of betrayal on the M6 programme Zone Interdite, stating: “I trusted [them] and this is the state they put me in. They killed me, and normally I should have died.”
Her chance of survival was estimated at only 5% on July 24, when she was taken back into hospital, according to France3. She went on to develop necrosis, linked to the septic shock, and was transferred to intensive care for severe burns. By the end of August they made the decision to amputate.
“To this day, I still don’t understand why I was left to die in that maternity ward,” she told Pourquoi Docteur in 2017. Ms Dray decided to have the abortion shortly after the birth of her third child and could not see the baby for three months. The hospital went on to be fined 300,000 euros over the case, and three people were indicted, Femme Actuelle reported in 2023. A gynaecologist was indicted for not having given antibiotics right at the start.
In 2018, Ms Dray told of the horror which she reportedly endured. “Someone helps me every day at home,” she told Sud Ouest. “For every daily task, you have to be able to adapt and organize yourself. The hardest part is to come to terms with it and tell yourself that there are things you can no longer do yourself. It’s hard.”
She continued: “It’s my three children who give me this energy she said, asked how she overcomes the challenges of daily life. Without them, I wouldn’t have had the same strength. And I still live with the hope of repairing myself. I’m dependent on progress in medicine and technology.”
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