A new mum revealed she almost died after giving birth when she developed a carnivorous insect in her caesarean section incision.
Amber DeWitt, 31, battled necrotizing fasciitis and fell into a coma after the arrival of her son Weston, now one year old, in September 2023.
The aggressive condition, which eats away at healthy tissue, can be fatal, and a piece of his stomach the size of a softball was removed.
The Dallas mother of one and business manager had a “normal, healthy pregnancy” and had planned to have a water birth, but was rushed to an emergency C-section after her baby became stuck in the rupture.
Weston arrived on September 30, 2023 at 9.25 am weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces.
A new mum revealed she almost died after giving birth when she developed a carnivorous insect in her caesarean section incision.
They were discharged for two days, but that same week, Amber became concerned when the incision continued to hurt.
It became increasingly painful and he eventually developed a high fever.
She said: “I couldn’t go to the bathroom so they knew my organs were failing.”
When she visited a local clinic, she said doctors told her it was a mild bacterial infection and sent her home with antibiotics.
She said: ‘They suggested I put a sanitary pad over the wound to help with the moisture.
“In hindsight, I feel like that might have caused the bacteria to reproduce more.”
When the pain became unbearable, Amber returned to Baylor Scott and White Hospital in Dallas, where doctors discovered the terrifying truth.
She was rushed for emergency exploratory surgery, where they discovered she had developed sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis.
Amber DeWitt, 31, fell into a coma and battled necrotizing fasciitis following the arrival of her son, Weston, in September 2023.
The aggressive condition, which eats away at healthy tissue, can be fatal and left Amber needing to have a piece of her stomach the size of a softball removed.
The mother-of-one from Dallas was rushed in for an emergency C-section after her baby became stuck in the rupture position.
They suspected the infection had developed in the wound from her C-section incision.
Amber was in an induced coma for three days and had two more operations while she slept.
‘My surgeon warned me it was a huge operation and that’s when I realized how serious it was. “There was so much tissue dying and turning black that they had to keep cutting,” he said.
‘They had to stop its spread before it reached my vital organs. I don’t remember anything during this time.’
She underwent emergency surgery to remove the dying tissue, leaving her with a three-inch-deep, approximately two-inch open wound.
The mother added: “During the second operation, the doctors told my family that I would not survive.”
When he got home, he realized something was terribly wrong.
Amber was in an induced coma for three days and had two more operations while she slept.
Doctors warned her husband Andrew, 32, that he was “unlikely to survive”, but she defied the odds and woke up three days later.
Amber said: “The doctors didn’t think he would make it through the night.” I had a newborn baby and my husband was saying goodbye.
‘They had to cut kilos of skin; It was the same amount as a softball. “I am very grateful to be here and to be able to watch my son grow.”
He spent six days in intensive care and another eight days in a ward before he was finally discharged.
Amber had a nurse visit her several times a week for the next six months to continue changing her bandages.
She said: ‘It was a very difficult time, I was a first-time mum and couldn’t even hold my baby.
‘They cut so much skin that they created a second wound because the skin was too tight to heal. “I was lucky to have such incredible support around me.”
Doctors warned her husband Andrew, 32, that she was “unlikely to survive”, but she defied the odds and woke up three days later.
Now, she’s finally cured and on a mission to urge people to “listen” to their bodies if something doesn’t feel right.
After five surgeries and two weeks later, Amber returned home and was on the road to recovery.
He has since made a full recovery, but was left with a large scar on his abdomen after the traumatic incident.
She said: ‘I had no health insurance and the cost of treatment put me off seeking medical help sooner.
“I kept thinking it would get better and it didn’t. I ended up getting Medicaid, which covered the hospital bills and was retroactive to the C-section.
‘I estimated that I accumulated almost a million dollars in treatment. But getting a hospital bill isn’t worth worrying about your health: I postponed the visit and it almost cost me my life.
‘I almost died and I would never have been here for my son. In that sense, I’m lucky to be here.”
Now, she’s finally cured and on a mission to urge people to “listen” to their bodies if something doesn’t feel right.
