A first-time mum has said how she was left “destroyed” after a flesh-eating bug caused her c-section to EXPLODE in the shower.
Deanna Hirrell, 26, gave birth to baby boy Kalub by c-section, but just a couple of days later her scar burst open while she was in the shower.
She phoned her midwife who she claims told her to rest in bed – but took herself to hospital a few days later when it started to “smell of death”.
Doctors discovered she was suffering with necrotising fasciitis – a potentially fatal infection that eats away at the skin, muscles and fat.
Surgeons had to “scoop out” a 6in deep hole to get rid of the infected tissue to save her life – leaving her with 27 stitches across her tummy.
Former carer Deanna, from Leicester, said the experience has put her off having any more kids.
She said: “This was meant to be the best time of my life – being a new mum.
“But it’s destroyed me.
“I cry everyday.
“When it burst open there was all this puss and blood and the smell was terrible.
“It was like the smell of death. It was horrible.
“The doctors don’t know what caused the flesh eating bug but I was told if I didn’t come in when I did it would have ruined me and I could have died.
“I’m glad I acted when I did but I just wish this didn’t happen at all.
“I love how I have a beautiful baby boy. But you don’t hear about these things happening when you become a mum.”
Deanna had an emergency c-section on February 9 2019 after having contractions every two minutes for 12 hours and her heart rate began to rose.
She was sent home from Leicester Royal Hospital the following day but Deanna said when she returned home she felt “completely wiped out”.
The new mum shrugged it off as expected tiredness but when she was showering the next day, the stitches from her c-section burst open 4cm.
There was a “flood of puss and blood” and unable to walk or take care of her newborn, Deanna was bed-bound for the next few days.
She noticed her c-section continuing to leak so was rushed to hospital by her worried partner Mark Wilson, 30.
Doctors diagnosed necrotising fasciitis.
Deanna said: “I just put the pain down to tiredness.
“This was my first time having a baby so I didn’t really know what to expect when it came to tiredness.
“But when it burst open I knew something wasn’t right.”
She was rushed into emergency surgery where doctors “scooped out the flesh eating bug” and stitchedher 27 times across her stomach.
She said they had to open up her c-section 6in by 6in to get rid of the tissue infected by the potentially deadly disease.
Deanna remained in Leicester General Hospital for a week before returning home.
**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT**
Doctors don’t know what led to the infection, she said, but Deanna thinks it was either due to the c-section or her traumatic delivery.
Despite healing well after surgery, Deanna says her confidence has been “crippled” and the experience has been so scarring she does not want to have anymore children.
“It’s just really ruined my confidence,” she said.
“The operation has left scarring which has left an upside down smiley face on my stomach.
“I used to be a size 12-14 but now I’ve ballooned to a size 20.
“It’s completely crippled me and some days I get so down about it.
“It hangs down and covers my moo and legs. I just look and feel horrible.
“I always wanted to be a mum but I dare not have another baby as it will probably cripple me.”