A WOMAN struck down by E.coli has spoken of the terrifying moments she believed she could die.
And Karen Morrisroe, 32, who is now back at home with her family, says it was only recordings of the voice of her 22-week-old baby son Oliver that convinced her to keep on fighting for life.
Karen was one of four people who went down at the end of July with the potentially fatal stomach bug in an outbreak officially linked to Llay Fish Bar.
While two of those affected suffered only minor symptoms, she and three-year-old Abigail Hennessy, of Llay, became seriously ill with kidney failure.
Abigail was eventually allowed home after a course of treatment at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital.
But Karen, who works as a Wrexham Council librarian, remained in the intensive care unit at Wrexham Maelor Hospital where for the first few weeks she remained in a medically-induced coma.
Her treatment included regular kidney dialysis and a course of highly specialised drugs.
At various points she suffered setbacks such as infections and a collapsed lung.
Her condition began to improve just a few weeks ago and she was eventually allowed home last Friday after 67 days in hospital.
She said: “I am just so glad to be home again after all that time.
“I remember being very ill and going into hospital but then I was under sedation and in a coma for four or five weeks.
“It was sort of a dreamlike state. I knew I was in hospital but I didn’t know for what.
“At one point I remember being on the brink of just giving up and thinking ‘I just want to die now’.
“It was then I heard the voice of my baby Oliver, which had been taped by my husband Paul and played to me in intensive care.
“It was these sounds I could hear in my head that convinced me that I must keep going because I didn’t want to leave Paul and Oliver.”
Due to the risk of infection, Karen’s family were not allowed to bring Oliver in to see her.
But she said that it was when he was eventually brought in that her recovery really took off.
“When I did see him I was absolutely ecstatic – he smiled at me, which showed that he hadn’t forgotten me in nine weeks.”
Karen said she had now been given the medical all-clear and that her kidneys are working at 100 per cent.
Now slowly regaining her strength at home, she had glowing praise for the medical team that took good care of her at the Maelor.
She said: “They were absolutely fantastic, especially the renal consultant Dr Stuart Robertson, who I know went the extra mile for me.”
- See tomorrow’s Leader for more of Karen’s story with new photographs.