Why This Mother Woke Up With Both Legs Amputated After Her C-Section

A mom, who gave birth to her eighth child via C-section, has woken up after a 5-day coma to find that she has lost both her legs. Doctors amputated these due to a complication in the procedure and they had to act fast. The mom was suffering from placenta accreta and had six other C-sections before.

Ella Clarke, 31, from Torquay, Devon in England, was told by her doctors when she woke up that they had to perform an emergency hysterectomy because her C-section had complications. They were aware that such a procedure might lead to blood clots. However, the doctors allegedly failed to monitor her properly before they realized that clots were blocking the blood circulation from her lower limbs. They had no recourse but to amputate and to do it fast, per Metro.

"I was put to sleep for the C-section and then put immediately into an induced coma when things started to go wrong," Clarke told the press. When she woke up, she was expecting to hold her new baby girl, Winter Rose, in her arms. She was devastated to learn that something horrible has also happened.

Mum tells how C-section complication left her with no legs: Mum-of-eight Ella Clarke has relived the world-ch... https://t.co/hX25r9C0mc

— Charu Mander (@CharuMander) May 30, 2016

This was in December 2015 and Ella Clarke stayed in the hospital for a few more weeks to get more treatments and therapy, as well as counseling. The mother who does plenty of activities with her children is now confined to a wheelchair and has been fitted prosthetic legs. She realizes her future will be faced with some challenges and limitations as a disabled person.

Ella Clarke has consulted with lawyers in her legal case against the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, per Daily Mail. While she received an apology from hospital, its administrators are launching an investigation into her case, per Independent. The hospital also said that they are in constant communication with the mom and her family.