A woman who developed sepsis and had all her fingers and thumbs partially amputated after was bitten by one of her her pet dogs is suing paramedics who advised her not to go to hospital – and instead stay at home and take paracetamol.
Michelle Ellis, 45, from Plymouth was bitten twice by her family dog on January 13, 2021 on her right wrist and outer forearm.
Two days later she called an ambulance after developing ‘flu like symptoms’ and paramedics attended her home.
But despite suffering from a high temperature, breathlessness, shivering and with visible dog bite marks on her arm, they decided not to take her to hospital.
Michelle Ellis (pictured) was bitten twice by the family dog on January 13, 2021 – and called an ambulance two days later after developing ‘ flu like symptoms’
On her Facebook Ms Ellis shared this photo of two dogs. It is unknown which dog attacked her
She was instructed to strip off, cover herself with a sheet, use a fan to keep her temperature down and take some paracetamol to deal with the pain she was experiencing.
But her condition deteriorated and the next day she was rushed to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where she suffered multi-organ failure.
She was put into an induced coma, had to be resuscitated twice and was diagnosed with sepsis.
Surgeons also had to carry out amputations on parts of all ten of her digits and she also had to undergo an emergency tracheostomy enabling her to breathe.
Ms Ellis, a mother-of-four is taking legal action against South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for damages of more than £200,000 alleging the negligence of their paramedics led to these complications and has left her with life-long effects.
In a legal document, it does not identify the name or breed of the dog that bit Ms Ellis.
In the document her lawyer argued: ‘The claimant’s (Ms Ellis) injuries were caused or materially contributed to by the negligence of the Defendant (SWASFT), its servants or agents in the mismanagement of the Claimant’s treatment.’
They state: ‘Each of the paramedics and other clinical staff employed by the Defendant owed to the Claimant a duty of care in respect of the clinical advice, actions and treatment provided by them. The Defendant is vicariously liable for any breach of such duty.’
Ms Elli’s lawyers also argue that when she was eventually taken to hospital, her dog marks were visible and recorded in the clinical notes.
The document maintains: ‘They must, therefore, have been visible when paramedics attended the Claimant between 23.08 on 15 January 2021 and 00.23h the following day.’
Court documents also maintain that Ms Ellis is now unable to fully use her hands and has pain in her fingers.
The mother of four claims that she has been left with PTSD and also suffers from depression.
The document states: ‘She has been left with significant cosmetic defects and significant loss of function in her hands which will be permanent. She also experiences pain and sensitivity in the tips of her index fingers which will probably improve but, if it does not, will require further surgery.’
Ms Ellis phoned for an ambulance two days after she was bitten by one of her dogs – but paramedics advised her against going to hospital and she later had her fingers and thumbs paritially amputated . Here she is pictured with a dog. It is unknown which dog attacked her
In the legal document, her lawyers argue that paramedics failed to take an adequate medical history when they attended Ms Ellis’s home, especially the fact that she had been bitten by her dog just days earlier.
Lawyers allege that they were also negligent in failing to carry out a proper examination, notice the presence of dog bites, mottling to Ms Ellis’s skin and her raised heart rate and temperature, which resulted in them not considering the possibility that she had contracted sepsis.
They argue that if she had been taken to hospital on that day then she would have been screened for the condition and avoided even more serious medical complications.
Her lawyers state: ‘The Defendant’s breaches of duty, and each of them, have therefore, caused or materially contributed to the Claimant exacerbation and development of sepsis and its sequale, and have resulted in otherwise avoidable amputations.’
A spokesperson for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this stage.’