Britain’s bravest nurse has walked down the aisle six years after losing both legs to sepsis.
Karen Paget had to learn to walk using prosthetics after the horror infection took her fingers and two of her limbs.
Now the 59-year-old has married her beloved soulmate Lyndon surrounded by friends and family in a tearjerking ceremony.
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“I finally got what I had wanted for a very long time,” Karen by What’s The Jam.
“It was a very emotional day. We’d been together for 16 years but walking down that aisle was amazing.”
Karen was on shift at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, in 2018 when she started to feel unwell with flu-like symptoms.
Three days later her condition worsened and she was diagnosed with sepsis.
The life-threatening condition occurs when the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection damaging the body’s own tissues and organs.
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Karen’s family was told to prepare for the worst when doctors found an infection that required surgery to remove part of her bowel.
Karen said: “I honestly felt like I was going to die as I felt so unwell.
“My blood pressure was very low, my temperature and pulse and respiration rate were very high.”
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Karen’s now husband Lyndon Paget said: “When they told me to go home and phone all the family I realised it was very serious.
“We all said our goodbyes and off we went.
“I thought it was over – I didn’t realise it was just the beginning.”
Karen pulled through the operation but her kidneys failed, her feet and fingers turned black and she was told she would need to have both her legs amputated.
She said: “My fingers were completely black and hard and you could tap them on a table and it would sound like a really harsh noise.
“My legs were discoloured and painful and they were smelling.
“A friend who visited said my legs were like papier mache.”
Over the next few months, Karen had operations to remove her legs and then her fingers on both hands.
She said: “The worse time was when I went home with no legs and just a wheelchair.
“Everything had to be done for me.
“I hated losing my independence.”
In February 2019, Karen went to the Thornberry Centre in Plymouth which is run by Livewell Southwest.
The rehabilitation team fits prosthetics and helps people adapt to new artificial limbs through a structured therapy programme.
Physiotherapy assistant Yvie Place said: “Anything you threw at Karen she would challenge herself.
“She was very positive with her attitude to getting back to walking.
“Karen would always tell us what she wanted and that is what we would work towards to achieve her goals.
“She is such an inspirational person.
“One of the best.”
Karen was told it would take a year to learn how to walk again unaided.
But she was able to achieve it in nine months.
She said: “I’d been a nurse for 32 years when this happened.
“I wanted to be an independent person and with everybody’s help I’ve achieved that.”
She continues to work as a staff nurse in the colorectal cancer outpatient department at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.
In May, she and Lyndon got married surrounded by friends and family in a tearjerking ceremony near Tavistock.
Lyndon added: “It was a long time coming.
“It’s something I had wanted for a very long time.
“It was a lovely day.”
The couple asked for donations instead of presents and presented the money to the centre that helped Karen to walk again.
Livewell Southwest Chief Executive Officer Michelle Thomas said: “Karen’s story is inspirational.
“She embodies the ethos of the work at the Thornberry Centre which supports people to live independently and return to as many of their pre-amputation activities as possible.
“This selfless act of donating money to help people who are currently using the service is very special.”
Karen added: “Before this happened if someone would have said this is what’s going to happen to you I would have said I wouldn’t be able to cope.
“But you do cope.
“I am thankful to be alive – I live every day.
“You have to.
“It didn’t just happen to me – it happened to Lyndon, my children, my family, my friends.
“It’s affected everything – but the thing is the way you deal with it.
“I can do most things it just takes me a little bit longer sometimes.”
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