A British woman has lost both her legs after being bitten by an unidentified insect in her garden.
- British woman Josie Rowley was bitten by an insect while gardening in September 2023.
- The bites caused ulcers on her legs. No treatment was able to cure the patient.
- She finally had both legs amputated last March.
After spending the day tending to her plants in her garden in September 2023, Josie Rowley noticed two insect bites on her left leg. But what initially looked like mosquito bites took a dramatic turn… leading to the amputation of both her legs.
Bites similar to mosquito bites
The 69-year-old Briton recalled the night she noticed the two red marks on her leg in the pages of Daily Mail. “I don’t really know what bit me”she explained before adding “I just thought maybe an ant had crawled into my jeans or some other creature.”
But the next day, the pimples had gotten bigger. “As the days went by, they became painful, then they turned into horrible ulcers. That’s when I had compression bandages put on them.”she confided.
Unfortunately, the treatment provided was not effective. Soon after, his toes began to turn black. Doctors used several techniques to try to save his limbs, including antibiotics and leech therapy. But nothing could stop the spreading infection.
After months of being in and out of hospital, Josie Rowley, who also suffers from arthritis, was admitted back to hospital with extreme pain in February. That’s when doctors talked her into amputation.
“I was devastated because surely this couldn’t have been caused by a few insect bites? It was crazy, I’ve been gardening for years and years.”
Insect bite: both legs amputated 10 days apart
Josie’s first amputation was scheduled for March. Ten days after the operation, she learned she would also lose her second leg. There was not enough blood flow to the limb to heal the ulcers that were developing there.
“When I lost my first leg, I was so calm when I came out of the operating room. But 10 days later, they took the other leg off. With an amputation, you can still maneuver a little bit, but when they took the other leg off, it was a different story.”
Since leaving hospital, Josie has been using an electric wheelchair and has been living with her daughter, as her home is not adapted for her disability. Her family has launched a page GoFundMe to finance the purchase of a wheelchair accessible vehicle.
Cork woman’s tiny mosquito bite led to the amputation of both her legs https://t.co/UeWoNwyCUT pic.twitter.com/rIaiW5L0TK
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) August 21, 2024
