A 48-year-old woman is sharing how a kidney stone infection resulted in her having her toes and fingers amputated.

In July 2022, Louise Marshallsay — a former teaching assistant from South Wales in the United Kingdom — started experiencing a “stabbing” pain in her side. It reminded her of the pain she dealt with three years prior when she needed a kidney stone surgically removed, so she decided to visit the hospital.

Once there, doctors confirmed that Marshallsay had a “small” kidney stone and sent her home because patients are typically able to pass them naturally, ​​according to Jam Press andThe Daily Mail.

However, that evening, Marshallsay started to feel faint and was falling in and out of consciousness. Additionally, within a few hours, her hands and feel started to turn black and purple.

The mother of one was rushed to hospital and collapsed upon arrival. She woke up four days later and learned that she had gone into septic shock, the last and most severe stage of sepsis.

Sepsis is “a serious condition in which the body responds improperly to an infection,” according to the Mayo Clinic. It can lead to septic shock, which is a dramatic drop in blood pressure that can damage the lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs. When the damage is severe, it can result in death.

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Marshallsay’s condition was so severe that doctors needed to restrict blood flow in her body in order to save her major organs. This ultimately caused the tissue in her extremities to die and amputation was likely.

“I hoped I wouldn’t lose all my fingers and toes, as I didn’t know what I would do without them,” she told the outlet. “My muscles had started to waste from the lack of use and I had also lost hearing in my right ear.”

“But, I was alive, and that was the most important thing,” she added. “There was no way my little girl was going to lose her mum.”

In October 2022, Marshallsay had all of her toes and fingers — except for her thumbs — amputated.

“I was horrified when I looked down. I was awake during the amputation, so I saw each finger being taken away from me,” she recalled. “It was like something from a horror movie.”

“But things got even grisly during her recovery,” she said. “I gasped when my bandages were removed. The remains of my fingers were swollen, bruised and had stitches in the tips. I cried from the pain and shock.”

Marshallsay was later discharged from the hospital and went to live under the care of her parents as she learned to adjust to her amputations. She was then referred to a prosthetics laboratory.

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Over the next 11 months, a highly specialized team from the Maxillofacial Laboratory at Morriston Hospital worked with Marshallsay on her prosthetics. Each finger was initially carved from wax, and Marshallsay was able to decide on the details like her fingernails. Then molds were used to create silicone prostheses, which were color-matched to her skin tone.

“When I first saw them, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “They looked just like the real thing, right down to the blue streaks for veins and intricate creases around the knuckles. I was overwhelmed.”

Marshallsay said she has since adapted to her new “normal” with her prosthetics, and she finds comfort in sharing her “miracle” of a journey with others.

“I can’t forget I was on death’s door for a few days,” she told the outlet. “I’m so grateful to be here and, fingers crossed, things can only get better from here.”