In what they thought were just bruises turned horrific when the Doctor was forced to amputate a seven-year-old girl’s left foot to save her life.
Brogan Partridge was holidaying in Cornwell for her mother Aimee Partridge and her new husband Craig‘s honeymoon when she was struck by the deadly infection.
Brogan started vomiting after a day at the beach but her parents thought that she had an infection and encouraged her to rest. Then soon after Aimee started to notice “bruises” appearing on Brogan’s legs. Brogan had been diagnosed with an eye infection and given antibiotics 12 days before the bruises appeared.
Her parents took her to a GP, she developed a terrible rash across her legs, and the doctor diagnosed her with meningococcal meningitis and septicemia. Aimee was eventually told by doctors that Brogan-Lei needed to have her feet and then both of her legs amputated after contracting septicemia.
Aimee, who feels like the marks didn’t resemble the images that she had seen for meningitis symptoms said, “It looked nothing like a rash, it looked more like bruising – at the time I never thought it was meningitis and that’s the problem.”
Aimee is now urging other parents to be more aware of the symptoms of the potentially deadly condition and said her daughter is struggling to regain her independence.
“One thought we had was that maybe Brogan contracted meningitis first somehow and that’s how she contracted conjunctivitis – because meningitis attacks the immune system and makes you more susceptible to other diseases – but we can’t be sure. When people are aware of what symptoms to look out for with meningitis, they say look for a rash but that’s not what it looked like to me,” Aimee said.
They thought that while they had challenges ahead, the worst was behind them when Brogan was soon fitted for a prosthetic foot.
The family had to decide whether or not to amputate the other leg as well. Because of the infection, Brogan’s remaining leg was in excruciating pain, she was in a lot of pain because the infection had killed the main blood vessel in her remaining leg.
“Alongside the doctors, we all, including Brogan, decided that this was the best decision going forward for her, the remaining leg was 50/50 and it required major surgery but she had a reoccurring infection at the being on 2017. The infection has spread up to her knee and the leg is just too weak and could put her at risk later in life if we keep it,” said Aimee.
“The main blood vessel in her leg died and it is not getting blood to her foot – also the tendon for the toes died too. The weaker the foot gets the more susceptible it is to damage.”
Aimee feels that children tend to adapt quicker, even though losing another leg is extremely difficult, a now nine-year-old Brogan has faced these challenges head-on.
There is a chance that the disease could worsen and spread further if they chose to keep the other leg, increasing the likelihood of future complications.
Aimee said, “She knows the process and it’s not nice but children tend to adapt quickly to situations and I think that’s what Brogan is going to do”
“At first she was really upset but now she is realistic and really just wants it done and dusted. Having one foot to having none is going to be very different for Brogan – she’s going to lose the last bit of independence she has. There are always risks in everything but this is the sole solution that we and the doctors came too. They can never guarantee it won’t come back. We always hoped it wouldn’t have to come to this but after seeing the impact it was having on her we thought it’s the best option we have.”
Watch the video below:
Sources: AWM, Thesun, Dailymail