A 4-year-old girl has her limbs removed after the flu left her hands like black claws

One father recalled the horror of seeing his daughter's hands turn into "black claws" after complications of the stomach flu turned into mortals, resulting in the amputation of parts of her limbs.

On Friday, October 13, 2017, Mia Williamson of Australia spent the morning playing with her cousins, but complained of tummy ache in the afternoon. A few hours later, around lunch time, she vomited. She also had diarrhea during the night.

Mia's mother, Amy Williamson, told Australia Sunday night"Around 5 pm, she vomited.

"So, okay, it looks like [gastric flu]we have seen this before, so do not worry about dinner, put it to bed. She vomited all night, had a temperature. "

The next day, Mia was "sicker than we had ever seen her," her parents write on a website that they created for their daughter. His doctor diagnosed him with a gastrointestinal virus.

After Mia became "incoherent and disoriented", her parents took her to the emergency room. In the hospital, she complained of severe leg pain, which prevented her from gaining weight. Doctors have diagnosed him with B and viral flu myositis and told her parents to bring her home so that she could rest.

On Sunday afternoon, a purple rash appeared on her legs and her worried parents brought her back to the hospital.

"Our heart sank when Mia was quickly admitted and surrounded by medical staff, we will never forget this scene," the parents wrote.

His father Peter Williamson said Sunday night"There are doctors everywhere, there are nurses everywhere, and Mia screams because she is in pain, we can not do anything."

Mia had sepsis: a condition US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described as "the body's extreme response to an infection."

"The infection occurs when an infection that you already have – in the skin, lungs, urinary tract or elsewhere – triggers a chain reaction throughout your body," says the institute's the health.

The World Health Organization estimates that 1.2 million children develop this disease each year. Some 6 million people die of sepsis each year.

Symptoms include chillsalreadyor be very cold; high heart rate; confusion; breathless; moist skin; and extreme pain, according to the CDC. If it is not treated, sepsis can quickly cause organ failure and death.

Dr. Luregn Schlapbach, sepsis expert at Queensland Children's Hospital, said Sunday night: "She had what we call septic shock … when the sepsis is so strong that the heart has trouble pumping enough blood to the different organs."

Mia's organs began to close. The doctors hooked Mia to drops and a machine to help her breathe after her heart stopped. The next day, his hands and feet were darker.

A doctor told his parents that his blood pressure was dangerously low. Doctors have prescribed medication to restrict the blood vessels so that her blood pressure remains high enough for the vital organs to function and keep her alive. However, this cut off most of the blood in his arms and legs.

"Mia's hands and feet continued to darken, but her vital signs were too poor to consider reducing the drugs that kept her alive," her parents said.

Thanks to her doctors, Mia survived. However, after a brief improvement, her hands and feet shriveled and blackened and began to disappear. A test confirmed that blood had stopped flowing past the abdomen of his arms and calves.

Surgeons amputated Mia's arms under his elbow on November 10, 2017, and his legs were amputated below the knee on January 3, 2018.

His father said Sunday night his hands became "black claws" after turning purple. "They turned into something like a horror movie," he said.

When her parents told Mia that she was at risk of losing parts of her limbs, she said, "I do not want them to take my hands."

Since amputations, Mia has learned to walk with prosthetic legs. She also knows how to draw and write and learns to use prosthetic arms. In 2018 she started school.

"If she was not well, I do not think we would survive," says Peter Sunday night according to News.com.au. "But she is, and, you know, hear that laugh, see that smile – we're so lucky to always … always have it."

Mia's parents urged others to learn about the dangers of sepsis.

"We strongly encourage everyone to learn about sepsis and to encourage their families and friends to do the same," his parents wrote on their website. "If we had known about sepsis, we could have asked:" Could it be sepsis? "