A coronavirus survivor ended up having all of her hands and feet amputated after contracting life-threatening sepsis just weeks after recovering from the killer bug.
Caroline Coster, 58, started showing symptoms of Covid-19 at the end of March and spent "two horrible weeks" battling the virus.
After a period of feeling unwell, the brave mum, from Bedford, Beds., initially started to recover - but just a few weeks later took a turn for the worse and was diagnosed with a chest infection.
After a phone call with her GP, Caroline was rushed to Bedford Hospital, where she was told she had developed sepsis - and was placed in a medically-induced coma for almost a month.
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Over the next heart-wrenching few weeks, Caroline's distraught family were twice told that the hospital were going to withdraw care if things didn't improve.
Writing on her blog, Caroline likened her experience of being in a coma to being "trapped in a video game".
She wrote: "When the game was switched off, so was I.
"When the game was switched on, my experience was disembodied white heads coming towards me and telling me 'Caroline, Caroline, wake up'."
Much to the doctors' surprise, Caroline began to recover after almost a month in a coma, with her kidneys, blood pressure, and other vitals all starting to heal.
But she had been in the coma for so long, with her limited blood flow being directed to her brain and vital organs, that her hands and feet had turned black and died.
Her daughter Hannah, 24, wrote: "They were now a source of pain and a hindrance as she could not use them anymore, so had to be amputated."
And Caroline told the BBC that her hands looked like those of an "Egyptian mummy".
She said: "They were black and shrivelled. I was so grateful to have my life that it wasn't a huge jolt to lose those."
Now, Caroline is adapting to her new way of life without her hands and feet, and is hoping to soon return to her fundraising work for the Make A Difference Foundation.
The charity funds women's businesses in Utange, Kenya, as well as a school for the disabled.
But her family have been forced to fundraise for her to be able to afford the huge amount of adaptations and specialist equipment she will now need in her home life.
Writing on a JustGiving page, Caroline's daughter Hannah said: "She is at peace with the loss of her hands and feet, as they are not what make her the person she is.
"She has faced this challenge with a positivity and determination that few of us could match.
"However, the reality is that she will require a huge amount of adaptations and specialised equipment in order to be able to live a normal, independent life, return to hobbies and stay in the home she loves.
"Sadly, government and NHS funding for many of the items we need is very limited.
"The money raised will go towards lots of things, including adaptations around the home, a bathroom she can use independently, private hand prosthetics, and mobility aids."
In just over a month, Caroline's JustGiving page has smashed its target, and raised over £53,000.
