A mum-of-two who had her legs amputated and is set to lose her fingers after 'flu-like symptoms' turned into a three-week fight to survive is appealing for donations so she can live an independent life.
Teacher and ex-Llanfair Clydogau resident Julianna Bransden, aged 44, came down with an illness on New Year’s Eve and was told to rest at home by a doctor following a 111 call.
But her husband Tim overruled medical advice and called an ambulance the next day as her health degenerated rapidly. At the time they didn’t know it would be the call that would save her life.
Doctors discovered Julianna had contracted flu, Strep A and then aggressive pneumonia. She went into septic shock and suffered two cardiac arrests as well as multiple systemic organ failure.
Those close to her feared she wouldn’t survive the night.
For the next three weeks, doctors desperately worked to keep her alive and she required full life support. Intensive care unit medics told her family they had never seen anyone in her condition survive before.
Much to the surprise of doctors, she eventually regained consciousness, could breathe on her own and, miraculously, had not suffered any brain damage.
She is said to have asked when she awoke: ‘How did I go to sleep with flu and wake up to be told they are cutting my feet off?’
Last month, she had to undergo surgery to amputate her legs below the knee due to the damage caused by contracting sepsis. Her fingers and hands have also wasted away severely after the illness, and she is likely to lose the majority of them.
She has now spent 66 days in intensive care and is dependent on constant care.
Her family started a GoFundMe page with a fundraising target of £107,000 which will pay for prosthetics, machinery and equipment for her home and enable her to live an independent life.
It is currently at more than £84,000.
They said: “The focus now is on getting Julianna home and supporting her long-term rehabilitation and recovery. As a double amputee and with limited use of her hands, life for both Julianna and her family has now taken a very different path.
“Julianna will walk again with the use of prosthetics; of that we have no doubt. She will also overcome the challenges with her hands, adapting to find new ways of achieving what she needs to do.
“She is a hugely capable, positive and determined individual, whose independent “bring it on” attitude will equip her well for the trials ahead.
“She has been an inspiration to so many over these past months, as she has resiliently overcome daily hurdles in her health; her smile says so much as she sends out video messages to update friends and family of her progress.
“We cannot thank the medical teams enough for their outstanding care, especially the ambulance crew and ICU team at Withybush Hospital (in Haverfordwest), whose skill, compassion, dedication and professionalism have kept us all afloat, not just Julianna!
“Thank you also to all the family and friends from across the globe who have been supporting us.
“But most of all, thank you Julianna, for being such an inspirational and strong wife, mother, daughter, sister, family member and friend. We are so proud of everything you are and will be in the future.”
Julianna - who spent her early life living around Lampeter - is a dedicated teacher of 19 years and a talented musician. She is an active person and regularly walks on the beaches and coastal paths near her home in Pembrokeshire. She works in the rural school of Llanmiloe in South Wales.