Doctors then informed the mom-of-three that she would have to stay in the hospital overnight, but she assumed that she would get home the next day. That night, she woke up screaming.

“My hand and arm looked like a balloon had been blown up. They were getting bigger and bigger. I felt like it my limb would explode any moment,” Clare recalled.

The 37-year-old was then rushed to the theatre so that doctors could alleviate the pressure on her hand.

It was not until May 26 and three operations later that Clare finally discovered that she’d developed the flesh-eating bug.

A day later, she had to have an emergency debriding procedure to remove the dead tissue it had created.

“I was told there was a 50 percent chance of me coming out of the operation alive,” she said.

“Even then, there was a real chance I could lose my fingers, hand or even my whole arm.”

“That’s when I really freaked out and broke down. I was a mom, I had a loving husband, and I couldn’t imagine my family not having me around, or not being able to carry out all the normal activities we enjoyed – like going to the park or hugging my kids.”

Thankfully, however, the skilled surgeons were able to save Clare’s arm and, more importantly, her life.

Clare had liposuction in February of this year to reduce the size of her affected hand and is on a mission to regain as much use of it has possible.

“I want to be able to pick my children up properly, hug them, and be able to play with them without being in pain,” she said.

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish Clare all the best in her continued recovery.

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