Caroline Fonjock says she would be dead were it not for the quick actions of NHS medics.<\/p>\n
Feeling under the weather, the 45-year-old social worker noticed what she believed was a boil in her upper groin.<\/p>\n
She initially thought she had a routine urinary infection, but within 36 hours she was in and out of consciousness and vomiting what she describes as \u00ab\u00a0black tar\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Doctors later told Caroline, who lives near Haverhill, Suffolk, that the \u00ab\u00a0boil\u00a0\u00bb was in fact necrotising fasciitis \u2013 a rare infection that destroys tissue beneath the skin.<\/p>\n
She needed emergency surgery to survive.<\/p>\n
Five years on, her case is helping researchers in Cambridge improve how the condition is identified and treated.<\/p>\n
Caroline has type 2 diabetes and a history of infections but says the speed of this one was \u00ab\u00a0just phenomenal\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I’ve had illnesses before but with all of them I felt in control,\u00a0\u00bb she says.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0With this, I didn’t.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
In April 2021, during the Covid pandemic, her condition rapidly worsened.<\/p>\n
What she initially thought was a small boil began to \u00ab\u00a0track\u00a0\u00bb up her leg, feeling like a \u00ab\u00a0hardened tube\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
At Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, a consultant told her she needed immediate surgery and multiple skin grafts and could need to spend up to a year in hospital.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0My response was, ‘No, no, no \u2013 I’ve got babies at home,'\u00a0\u00bb she says.<\/p>\n
But she was told going home was not an option.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0She said ‘If you don’t do this, you’ll be dead by morning,'\u00a0\u00bb she recalls, adding that the consultant \u00ab\u00a0held my hand and I shed some tears\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
In what she describes as a \u00ab\u00a0terrifying\u00a0\u00bb operation, surgeons removed a large part of her leg to stop the infection spreading.<\/p>\n
Later, when she saw images of the damage, she says she could \u00ab\u00a0only describe it as looking like roadkill\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
But doctors were ultimately able to save her leg \u2013 something she calls \u00ab\u00a0astounding\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Caroline spent two weeks in intensive care in a coma, during which time she says her body went into \u00ab\u00a0survival mode\u00a0\u00bb and multiple organs began to fail.<\/p>\n
Her husband Lionel says he had never heard of necrotising fasciitis before.<\/p>\n
After searching online and speaking to medics, he realised how serious it was.<\/p>\n
He then faced the task of telling their daughters.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It was the most difficult thing to kind of break to them\u2026 and say to them ‘It’s a possibility mum might not come back home\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
He recalls one of his daughters asking: \u00ab\u00a0What are we going to do?\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I said, ‘We are going to pull together and support each other.'\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
When Caroline came round, she had a tracheotomy and could not speak. She had also lost her fine motor skills.<\/p>\n
Her friend brought in a whiteboard so she could communicate, but she struggled.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I was so desperately in distress. I couldn’t write,\u00a0\u00bb she says.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It was a really terrifying moment.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
She had to learn to walk again after her muscles deteriorated. Five years on, she says her recovery has been long but she is grateful to be alive.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I’m lucky to have my leg and I’m lucky to have my life,\u00a0\u00bb she says.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0But to be able to walk and play with my children and niece and nephew again is amazing.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Necrotising fasciitis is a rare but severe bacterial infection that destroys tissue beneath the skin.<\/p>\n
It can resemble cellulitis but spreads rapidly and requires urgent hospital treatment.<\/p>\n
The infection usually enters through a break in the skin, although there is not always an obvious cause. Caroline says she does not know how she contracted it.<\/p>\n
People with weakened immune systems or conditions such as diabetes are at higher risk.<\/p>\n
According to the NHS, warning signs include severe pain, redness, blisters, changes in skin colour and vomiting.<\/p>\n
Caroline is one of 87 patients included in a 10-year study at Addenbrooke’s, covering cases between January 2015 and March 2025.<\/p>\n
Researchers found age and underlying conditions, such as heart or kidney disease, increase the risk of death.<\/p>\n
They also found that while high white blood cell counts are usually a warning sign, in serious infection a low count can signal the immune system is becoming overwhelmed.<\/p>\n
The study, published in the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, aims to improve early recognition of the condition.<\/p>\n
Plastic and reconstructive surgeon Charles Loh said: \u00ab\u00a0Necrotising fasciitis is a very serious condition. It has a one in four chance of death within 30 days.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It progresses rapidly. Patients become gravely ill, often require organ support in intensive care, and it takes a major toll on the body.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Caroline says she feels fortunate to live close to Addenbrooke’s and that she will always be grateful for the care she received.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I absolutely cherish the NHS and the emergency care that we have,\u00a0\u00bb she says.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0They pinpointed so quickly what was wrong and how sick I was, and that meant I survived.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0To this day I don’t know how they did it.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire? Contact us below.<\/p>\n
Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Caroline Fonjock says she would be dead were it not for the quick actions of NHS medics. Feeling under the weather, the 45-year-old social worker noticed what she believed was a boil in her upper groin. She initially thought she had a routine urinary infection, but within 36 hours she was in and out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}