WE all like to run around and play with our kids – making the most of our time with them.
Deanna Crump was no different and had been enjoying playing in the garden with her children, Isaac, one, and Jerry, three.
But the 31-year-old, who lives in Detroit, US, tripped and dislocated her knee, which resulted in her leg ‘hanging off’.
Recalling the incident on August 13, she said: “I just tripped and looked down. I was in extreme pain and my leg was just hanging there.
“We called 911 and the ambulance came and picked me up as my husband, Jerry, 38, was at home with the kids, it wasn’t like he could pack the car and take them.
“When I first got to the hospital, they were trying anything and everything they could to get the pulse back in my foot – as I still had feeling in my leg and toes.”
Doctors discovered Deanna had fractured both bones that connect to her knee, had multiple torn ligaments, damaged arteries, and they were unable to “find a pulse” in her leg and foot.
This led to emergency surgery – trying to get the blood flowing back into her leg – where they discovered she also had blood clots.
She then had another procedure to remove the clots which was unsuccessful.
It wasn’t until her third operation that medics were successful in repairing Deanna’s arteries and she regained the pulse and blood flow in her leg and foot.
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However, there were complications and she began to bleed internally.
During her fourth surgery, her doctor accidentally nipped an artery in her stomach – during which she lost so much blood she nearly died and had to undergo a blood transfusion.
Deanna had been in hospital for a week when she was told there was nothing more medics there could do for her.
She was transferred to Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, US.
She said: “I got there, and they gave me a CT scan right away, they said there was nothing they could do for me.
“My foot and toes were turning black, and my leg was dead.
“They said they would either have to amputate above or below the knee – they decided above the knee is what they had to amputate.”
“It destroyed me, all I kept thinking was ‘is this my life?’, she said.
‘ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS’
She spent five and a half hours in surgery, followed by six days in an intensive care unit (ICU).
Then, she spent three days in an outer ICU bed, which is when critically ill patients are cared for outside of ICUs.
Finally, she left hospital on August 30.
Deanna said: “Honestly, the nurses at the hospital made it better, it was an up and down rollercoaster of emotions.
“They wanted me to get up and out of bed and I was there yelling saying I couldn’t, but I did it and when I did, I was very happy.”
She is hoping to be fitted with a prosthetic leg by the end of the year and says she is starting to feel better.
Deanna now has physical therapy twice a week.
While she tries to get used to her new way of life, she knows she will need to renovate her home to help ease her struggles.
She has launched a GoFundMe page to put towards house renovations and supporting the family while her husband, Jerry, 38, a teacher, is off work caring for her.
She said: “We have a very small house, our insurance isn’t too good, and we needed so much stuff, like a ramp, a walker and to get the house ready for when I came home.
“We also needed enough money for my husband to be able to stay at home and look after the kids.”
She added that the money will also go towards making her care more accessible and taking a wall down so she can get around easily.
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