A Sydney woman went in for a routine manicure. Then she got sepsis and had to have part of her thumb amputated.
Claudia never expected that a regular nail appointment could turn into a nightmare emergency room visit, but that’s what happened.
“The white rabbit got me… never take life for granted,” she said in her video’s description, which has since gotten 2 million views. Within hours of her appointment, she started feeling off and went to the emergency room, which changed her life forever.
Claudia’s experience with Sepsis
Claudia had a scheduled manicure to get cute nails for Valentine’s Day. But she started having complications mere hours later. She began to feel dizzy, and her toes went numb. Out of an abundance of caution, she decided to go to the emergency room.
Doctors treating her kept her there because they were concerned about her blood tests. The next day, she noticed that her thumb was swelling. Then she saw red tracking lines from her thumb all the way up to her neck.
Within an hour, her thumb started to turn black. Doctors immediately scheduled her for emergency surgery. During the hour she waited, she felt feverish and deathly ill. She went into surgery thinking they would remove her nail, but instead they needed to amputate part of her thumb.
For the next two weeks, she was in and out of different operations. After six surgeries, 48 stitches, a skin graft, and a full month in the hospital, she was released. But for the next year, she felt ill almost every day.
“Sepsis is a race against the clock,” she added toward the end of her video.
What generally causes sepsis?
Infections usually cause sepsis, a life-threatening illness where “the infection-fighting processes turn on the body, causing the organs to work poorly.” Patients with sepsis may get a simple infected cut and end up in a situation where the immune system stops fighting the infectious tissue and instead attacks organs and various parts of the body.
This can lead to widespread inflammation throughout the body and necrosis, as well as septic shock. Septic shock can lead to loss of organ function and death.
In Claudia’s case, she got a small cut on her thumb after going to a non-certified nail salon, leading to her amputation and prolonged hospital stay. “ Make sure you go to good certified nail salons… I have been in the position that I’m in because of a strep infection I got from a manicure, she said.
What does ‘the white rabbit’ mean?
Across TikTok, many people have shared their “white rabbit” experiences, a term not familiar to everyone viewing. It has left some commenters wondering what it means for “the white rabbit” to “catch up” to a person.
The white rabbit is a reference to Alice in Wonderland. In the story, Alice falls “down the rabbit hole” and ends up in an entirely different world. Similarly, “falling down the rabbit hole” for some TikTok users means describing a day when their life gets fundamentally altered and they end up “in a completely different world.”
“The white rabbit got me,” in that regard, refers to tragic, life-altering events. In one moment, everything was fine and even positive. In the next, their world completely changed, usually in a negative way.
Others’ experiences with Sepsis
Sepsis is tragically common, with many commenters having similar experiences with the life-threatening illness.
One commenter shared their situation, saying, “I had sepsis after a routine appendectomy – changed my entire perspective on life! Thank you for sharing your story, it’s important people understand the seriousness of sepsis. It’s a big recovery, physically AND mentally. Look after yourself and take your time to heal.”
Another added their mother’s experience, sharing, “I wish more people knew about sepsis and how quickly it can take your life! My mum was fine then 5 hours later in ICU fighting for her life after a tooth infection turned sepsis. 3 months in hospital but years later she is still not 100%. I am so sorry you went through this.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Claudia for more information and comment.
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