After losing all four of her limbs, Priscilla Dray was hit with another agonising heartbreak.
The mother-of-three had an abortion in 2011 and fell gravely ill shortly afterwards. Her health took a devastating decline when she developed a deadly infection that horrifyingly left her needing all four limbs amputated. Thirteen years later, Priscilla is still desperately searching for answers on how the nightmare could have possibly happened.
The former shopkeeper, who was 36 years old at the time, claims doctors refused to give her antibiotics following an infection, leading her to develop life-changing necrosis a month later. Now, her case is in court, in Bordeaux, France, after two hospital doctors were charged with causing involuntary injuries with incapacity.
After Priscilla’s four limbs were removed, in an agonising twist, she was devastatingly unable to see her newborn baby for three months. She painfully told Femme Actuelle in 2023: “I didn’t see my baby for three months. All these moments of happiness were taken away from me. I believe there is nothing worse.”
In July 2011, Priscilla had an abortion under general anaesthetic at the Pellegrin University Hospital in Bordeaux, after she and her partner decided to abort their pregnancy. The mum, who already had three children, Ilan, Nathan and Aaron, was in good health at the time. But the following day, she noticed worrying symptoms, including exhaustion and fever, that led to her seeking professional help.
She was told she may have endometriosis, a condition where cells similar to the lining of the womb grow outside of the uterus. Priscilla says she asked for antibiotics, but claims she was refused by a doctor and sent home. The next day, she went to her GP in Cap Ferret, who believed that she might have septicaemia.
She was rushed back to hospital with a letter from her GP for emergency doctors – only, she alleges, it was not passed on by hospital staff. Her condition deteriorated at a terrifying rate. She had trouble breathing and was suffering from freezing cold hands and feet. When she was eventually administered with an antibiotic, she claims, it was too late.
Sepsis, with ‘flesh-eating bacteria’, had already begun to eat her limbs. According to the NHS, sepsis is a life-threatening infection that can be hard to spot. Some symptoms can include a rash, difficulty breathing, acting confused or blotchy skin lips or tongue. Without proper treatment, sepsis can lead to organ failure, tissue damage and death.
When she was taken back to hospital, she had only a five percent chance of survival, according to local news reports. In just over a week, Priscilla developed necrosis, linked to the septic shock, and was transferred to intensive care for severe burns. By the end of August, doctors made the huge decision to amputate.
She tragically lost both her legs as well as her right forearm and left hand. Opening up on the horror ordeal afterwards, Priscilla said she was ‘massacred’ and ‘left to die’. She said on the M6 programme Zone Interdite: “I trusted [them] and this is the state they put me in. They killed me, and normally I should have died.”
In 2017, she told Pourquoi Docteur: “To this day, I still don’t understand why I was left to die in that maternity ward.” The hospital went on to be fined 300,000 euros over the case, and three people were indicted. A gynaecologist was indicted for not having given antibiotics right at the start.
In 2018, Ms Dray shared how her life had dramatically changed. “Someone helps me every day at home,” she told Sud Ouest. “For every daily task, you have to be able to adapt and organise yourself. The hardest part is to come to terms with it and tell yourself that there are things you can no longer do yourself. It’s hard.”
“It’s my three children who give me this energy”, she said, when asked how she overcomes the challenges of daily life. “Without them, I wouldn’t have had the same strength. And I still live with the hope of repairing myself. I’m dependent on progress in medicine and technology.”
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
