Mom Begs Doctors to Amputate After a 'Simple Scratch' on Her Thigh Leads to 55 Surgeries: 'I Just Want My Leg Off'
A fishing trip led to years of pain for UK mom Michelle Milton, who says she is “sick of spending my life in the hospital” and wants doctors to amputate her infected leg
UK mom of 2 Michelle Milton slipped on a rock while on a fishing trip and says her leg was scratched by a nylon fishing line in her pocket
The "simple scratch" got infected, requiring Milton to undergo 55 surgeries
Milton is now begging doctors to amputate her leg to spare her more surgeries
A UK mom has undergone 55 surgeries after a small scratch on her leg developed a serious infection — and now, she wants doctors to amputate her leg.
When Michelle Milton went out for a fishing trip with her brother in 2019, the mom of two slipped on some rocks — and a nylon fishing line that was in her pocket got stuck in her leg, according to Wales Online.
Within days, what she called a “simple scratch” got infected, the outlet reported, and Milton, who hails from the county of Essex, was rushed to the hospital when her leg swelled up.
Although it’s not clear if she performed any wound care after the initial injury, the CDC recommends to “clean all minor cuts and injuries that break the skin (like blisters and scrapes) with soap and water.”
When doctors discovered that Milton’s wound was resistant to antibiotics, it triggered the first of 55 surgeries she would have for her infected leg.
"I never thought a fishing line could cause so much damage. I just want my leg off,” Milton, 40, said, according to Wales Online.
“Every day is filled with agony, and I've begged them to take it off. They just keep cutting away at my leg. I can barely walk or sit down. There's going to be nothing left of me," she added.
Milton has had four skin grafts and 21 debridements, which the National Institute of Health explains is “the removal of devitalized tissue.”
She’s also had 30 “washouts,” a UK term for wound irrigation, which the National Institute of Health says is a “vigorous” procedure used to clean the wound.
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However, nothing has stopped the infection from spreading. “I’m sick of spending my life in [the] hospital,” she told SWNS, via the New York Post.
The outlet reported that the infection is spreading down her leg — and Milton may have developed a blood clot as a result of the ongoing infection.
“I don’t know how much more I can take,” added Milton, who has a daughter, 17, and a son, 20.
“I haven’t been [a mom] in years. My mom’s been doing everything for my kids,” she said, per the Post.
“Nothing seems to work, none of the treatments help at all,” Milton continued. “I can’t believe a simple scratch has left me like this.”
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