Imagine walking down the aisle at your wedding following an amputation.
A delayed diagnosis
Running, swimming and building her career: Molly was enjoying a full and busy life. She loved her job as a support worker in a residential home and looked forward to going out with her friends at weekends. ‘I was so active, I was never at home’, Molly says. ‘Life was really good.’
But in 2020, Molly started experiencing stabbing pains in her leg so her mother took her to A&E. Delays in her assessment caused Molly to reach surgery 20 hours later than was scheduled.
The delays meant that it was too late to save Molly’s leg. When she woke up the doctor told her she’d had a below-the-knee amputation. ‘I couldn’t understand as I could still feel my leg,’ recalls Molly. ‘Then I just broke down. I cried to my mum, to the doctors. Life wasn’t worth living without my leg.’
Complications after Molly’s surgery resulted in her needing an above-the-knee amputation shortly afterwards. Molly was left in a complete state of shock, struggling to accept her amputation. ‘I had a lot of phantom pain, like my toes were burning. I couldn’t come to terms that my leg was gone.’
After the surgery
Molly went back to live with her parents after being discharged from hospital. Unable to walk upstairs, she was confined to sleeping, eating and washing in the living room. During this time, Molly struggled with her mental health.
‘I wanted to give up, I didn’t want to be here anymore,’ she admits. ‘My partner at the time ended the relationship, I was very isolated. Then gradually, my friends dropped away too.’
But then, shortly after her surgery, Molly met Daniel. ‘He made me laugh, and I hadn’t laughed in such a long time. On the afternoon I met him, I told my friend: One day, I’m going to marry him.’
From the day they got together, Daniel was determined to support Molly’s rehabilitation. He moved close by to help her parents take care of Molly and continues to attend all her physiotherapy sessions with her. ‘Beneath her tears and trauma was a beautiful soul, itching to get out,’ Daniel says.
But there’s one memory that is particularly important for both Molly and Daniel: their wedding day.
‘I said to Daniel, if I wasn’t walking down the aisle, I wasn’t getting married,’ jokes Molly. ‘That gave me the push I needed. And I did it, I wore my leg all day at our wedding. It was brilliant.’
‘Seeing my wife walk down the aisle was an overwhelming feeling,’ agrees Daniel. ‘From being in a wheelchair, to seeing this beautiful queen walking down the aisle is a feeling I’ll never forget.
Legal support
Before she contacted Irwin Mitchell another law firm told Molly she didn’t have a case. But she was determined to dig deeper. ‘I felt I needed to take this further. I couldn’t let it happen to someone else.’
Molly contacted us to investigate the circumstances that led to her amputation and within 18 months, the NHS trust admitted liability.
We secured interim payments that allowed Molly to rent a bungalow more suited to her needs than the one-bed flat she and Daniel were living in. Her rehabilitation package also included help from our in-house Support and Rehabilitation Coordinator Kerry Wood, who worked with the NHS to help Molly overcome issues with her first prosthetic leg.
Ashlee Coates, solicitor from our Medical Negligence team supported Molly. She said, ‘I can still remember the day I called Molly to tell her that her first interim payment had been secured. It was such a big moment for both of us, knowing she could start working towards the life she wanted.’
Molly says, ‘If I ever need to speak to Ashlee, she’s always there for me straight away. She’s been brilliant, explaining everything in terms that I can understand.’
‘Ashlee’s like a best friend to Molly,’ adds Daniel. ‘It’s not just a firm, they make you feel like a family. Without the help of Irwin Mitchell, Molly would not be where she is today.’
Rehabilitation
Molly’s rehabilitation package included physiotherapy from Dorset Orthopaedics. Her physio, Kate Sherman MBE, has worked with her to build up her strength, fix the problems that the NHS limb caused with her gait and get her to a position where she is successfully using a new prosthetic limb, the Genium X4.
‘The Genium X4 is incredible,’ says Molly. ‘I can walk downstairs, go to the shops, I wear it for 16 hours a day. I feel like a normal person again. I’m even going to be able to wear high heels to a wedding I’m attending soon.’
‘It’s not just a case of re-learning something you already know. After an amputation, you’re learning to use your body in a completely different way,’ explains Kate.
‘Molly’s been great to work with. She’s got absolute determination to get where she needs to be.’
After experiencing discomfort from her NHS socket, Molly was unsure about being fitted for her new socket. She soon realised that the new socket was much more comfortable and Kate could see a noticeable change in her attitude to wearing a prosthetic leg. She says, ‘To relieve the anxiety of wearing and using a prosthetic is pivotal. Suddenly, the world started to open up to her.’
‘Kate sees something in me that I don’t see myself,’ says Molly. ‘Some days, the rehabilitation is so hard that I want to give up. But Kate’s always there to push me on. She’s changed my life.’
Looking to the future
Molly’s looking forward to buying her first home. It will need to be single storey and fully adapted to her needs, capable of allowing her independence for those times when she needs to use her wheelchair.
She also plans to start a family with Daniel.
‘We’ve been talking a lot about having children or adopting. I’d love to have kids to take care of, it’s something I’m really looking forward to,’ says Molly.
She’s recently passed her driving test and is keen to return to running, a goal which is fully supported by her husband.
‘We’ll have her doing the Three Peaks Challenge before much longer,’ he jokes. ‘Perhaps even the Ironman Challenge after that.’
The compensation Molly receives will pay for the life-time support, physiotherapy and upkeep of her prosthetics. With financial security assured – and her family and husband beside her – Molly’s feeling very optimistic about the future.
‘I never imagined I’d have the life I have now. I have a brilliant husband, an amazing family; I never imagined that was possible. I thought my life was going to be me stuck in a wheelchair, until I realised I can do anything I put my mind to.
I’m finally living the life I want to live because of Irwin Mitchell.’
If you, or a loved one, has experienced a failure in medical care, our experts are here to help. They’ll come to you with an understanding and sensitivity about your situation and work to get answers from those responsible, so you can look towards the future.
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