The woman who almost had to get her leg amputated
A woman from Queensland who beat the odds to walk again after being paralysed in a skydive accident has spoken about the second ordeal that caused her foot to become infected and start to 'die'.
Emma Carey, 24, survived a horror plunge in Switzerland in 2013 after her parachute and emergency chute became tangled, and six months ago was working on a mural in Bondi when she received a cut in her foot without realising.
'The surgeon told me... that my foot might have to be amputated,' she wrote on an Instagram post.
Ms Carey is now a walking paraplegic but more recently almost had to have her foot amputated
She was 20 years old when she experienced a horrific parachute accident
Six months ago she had been working on a mural in Bondi while not wearing any shoes and got a cut in the bottom of her feet, but because she can't feel her legs she didn't notice the wound.
'The next day my entire leg was ridiculously swollen and the cut looked pretty bad so I went to hospital,' she wrote.
'They said it was infected so put me on antibiotics and kept me in overnight.
'A week went by and it wasn’t getting any better so I went back and again they said it was infected and put me on antibiotics.'
Six months ago she had been working on a mural in Bondi while not wearing any shoes and got a cut in the bottom of her feet
But because she can't feel her legs she didn't notice the wound until it was almost too late
Ms Carey said that they put her on antibiotics four times and at the two month mark she believed that the antibiotics weren't helping.
She was then referred to an orthopedic surgeon who told her her foot might have to be amputated and it was at this point that he put her leg in a cast.
'A week later they took the cast off to check on the wound and my foot was white. The skin had gone necrotic which basically means it had started to die,' she wrote.
'I saw my foot and started crying because I knew it wasn’t good.'
After cast and before cast. 'A week later they took the cast off to check on the wound and my foot was white. The skin had gone necrotic which basically means it had started to die,' she wrote
'I saw my foot and started crying because I knew it wasn’t good,' she said
'A week later they took the cast off to check on the wound and my foot was white. The skin had gone necrotic which basically means it had started to die'
A friend later decided to contact a holistic nurse for a second opinion who told her to take the cast off straight away.
'She said my foot was dying and that even one more day in the cast could mean that I might have to have it amputated,' Ms Carey explained.
'Since then I have been seeing Amy and she has brought my foot back to life and now the hole is finally getting so small!'
It was a friend who then decided to send her picture off to a holistic nurse for a second opinion who told her to take the cast off straight away
Ms Carey said that she doesn't want to be angry about the situation and believes that the doctor she saw originally was genuinely just trying to help her.
The story that she wants people to take away from this is that everybody should always seek a second opinion and that if you ever have a bad feeling about something medically, then they should trust their gut.
'Luckily we can all learn from this and know that if you ever have a bad feeling about what a doctor is telling you, then you should listen to your intuition. You know your body best so ALWAYS get a second opinion'.
'If something feels off then it probably is, so you should always seek a second opinion from another professional and take a more holistic approach. The patient should always be involved when discussing a treatment plan, because they know their body best,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
The story that she wants people to take away from this is that everybody should always seek a second opinion
These days she is known as 'the girl who fell from the sky' and an inspirational fitness guru with over 80,000 Instagram followers
Ms Carey's was 20 years old when she experienced the horrific skydiving accident while backpacking in Switzerland.
These days she is known as 'the girl who fell from the sky' and an inspirational fitness guru with over 80,000 Instagram followers.
She ended up landing on her stomach with her instructor on top of her, breaking her spine in two places, shattering her pelvis and her spinal cord crushed but hasn't let this event define her negatively.
Through documenting her experiences on Instagram she has gained a solid following of people who support her and are inspired by her story.
'Ever since I first began sharing my story and gaining a following on social media, I made a promise to myself to always be open and honest and always share both the good and bad,' she had previously Daily Mail Australia.