Lily McGarry, 23, became a quadruple amputee when she developed septic shock having gone into hospital with “flu-like symptoms”
On a Sunday in January, 23-year-old sporty medicine student Lily McGarry went for a 10km run and enjoyed her usual weekend activities. By Tuesday, her sister received an urgent call from the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) telling her she needed to come and that her sister was “very ill”.
Over the following months, Cardiff University medicine student, Lily, received life-saving care from doctors after she was diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia, a severe and aggressive blood infection. Lily’s sister said her condition deteriorated “extraordinarily quickly” and several weeks after she was first admitted the sporty student became a quadruple amputee.
All four of her limbs were shortened with amputations above her knees and through her elbows, and she is still in intensive care in hospital.
Lily’s older sister, Maisie Lemon Smith, said her sister’s illness has been both “devastating and shocking”.
“I’d spoken to her on the Sunday and she’d been out walking a friend’s dog, been for a 10km run, doing all her normal fun weekend activities and she was fine. Then by Tuesday morning, I got a call from the hospital saying ‘you need to come, Lily is very ill’. So it happened in definitely less than 24 hours, really in less than 12 hours she became critically ill.”
After spending several weeks in a coma, doctors assessed what life-saving treatment Lily would need and it became clear she would need to have quadruple amputations due to the severe effects of sepsis restricting the blood flow to her extremities.
“Obviously we hoped she would retain as much of her limbs as possible and the doctors have worked really hard to do that. But yeah, I think we always knew it was a possibility.”
Lily continues to receive care in the ICU, with daily visits from her mum, dad and stepdad, and regular visits from her housemates, boyfriend and course mates. Maisie, who lives in Scotland, stayed with her for the first three weeks and has made bi-weekly visits since.
Despite everything Lily has been through this “turbulent” year, her sister said she’s managed to stay pretty positive. Maisie said: “She’s good. She is amazingly, generally managing to remain positive. I think she’s a lot stronger than I would be if it was me there to be honest.”
Last week, Lily’s family and friends set up a Gofundme page to raise money for prosthetics and adaptations to help Lily return home and pay for the long-term care she will require. Incredibly, they have raised over £320,000.
“I know my mum’s spoken to her about the fundraiser and how much awareness is being able to be raised through that. And she’s really, really pleased with that.”
“I’m hugely, hugely shocked and very grateful for the response it’s got and the community that seems to have sprung up around Lily. As well as the GoFundMe page, I know there are people planning runs and other kind of fundraising events as well and everybody just really wants to help support Lily however they can.”
“Just to see how much the community cares as well has just been really, really heart-warming.”
Looking ahead, Lily’s family are hopeful her time in ICU will come to an end in the next few weeks. Maisie said: “The surgeons and the other doctors that are caring for her say she’s making good progress and then it will be the next stages. To move away from the ICU and the intensity of care that she needs there.”
Maisie explained that because her sister’s been in a hospital bed since January, she would have to start with “what seems like small actions to you or I”, conceding that it will be a long road to rehab and eventually being able to get prosthetics fitted.
Maisie wanted to stress that if people want to donate, to make sure they are donating to the official GoFundMe page here.
Both Lily and her family want to use Lily’s experience to raise awareness of the signs of sepsis. Maisie said: “If you have any of those symptoms seek care urgently, the quicker you get care the better your outcomes are likely to be.”
The six signs of sepsis are:
- Slurred speech
- Extreme shivering or muscle pain
- Passing no urine (in a day)
- Severe breathlessness
- It feels like you’re going to die
- Skin mottled or discoloured
