Sepsis Dog Lick: Woman Returns Home After Quadruple Amputation and 32-Week Hospital Battle

Sepsis Dog Lick appears at the center of a rare medical warning after 56-year-old Manjit Sangha left hospital following 32 weeks of treatment that included several cardiac arrests and a quadruple amputation. The scale of her injuries and the speed of her decline have prompted calls for greater awareness of the condition now that she has been discharged.

Warning: this article contains images some readers might find upsetting.

Sepsis Dog Lick and Manjit Sangha’s recovery

Doctors believe Sangha’s sepsis might have been triggered by something as small as a lick from her dog on a cut or scratch. The suspected cause led to a cascade of life-threatening complications that left her without both hands and both legs below the knee, after surgeons concluded amputation was necessary due to the spread of the condition.

Sangha, a former pharmacy worker who had worked seven days a week before falling ill, spent 32 weeks in hospital. She lost her spleen, battled pneumonia and developed gallstones that clinicians warned might require further surgery. While in intensive care at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, her heart stopped six times.

Timeline: Penn, Moseley Hall and the July collapse

Sangha returned home on a Sunday afternoon in July last year feeling unwell. By the following morning she was unconscious; her hands and feet were ice-cold, her lips had turned purple and she was struggling to breathe. Her husband, Kam Sangha, described the shock of the rapid deterioration: "Your mind is all over the place... how can this happen in less than 24 hours?" He later added that "one minute on a Saturday she's playing with the dog, Sunday she's gone to work, Monday night she's in a coma. "

After intensive treatment at New Cross Hospital, surgeons at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley performed the amputations. Medics had feared she would almost certainly die during the ordeal.

Ward 9 at Moseley Hall and the homecoming in Penn

On a Wednesday this month Sangha left Ward 9 at Moseley Hall in Birmingham and returned to Penn, on the Wolverhampton/Staffordshire border, where she was met with a hero's welcome from family. The discharge marked the end of an extended hospital stay that included several cardiac arrests and complex surgical interventions.

Sangha has described the personal toll plainly: "It's difficult to explain the experience. Losing your limbs and your hands in a short time period is a very big thing. It's very serious and not to be taken lightly. " She also said she could not remember the first month of her illness: "I didn't know what was happening. The first month I do not remember anything. "

Surgical decisions at Russells Hall Hospital

Surgeons at Russells Hall Hospital determined that amputation of both legs below the knee and both hands was required because of how the condition had spread. Those surgical decisions came after multiple life-saving interventions in intensive care and ongoing treatment for related complications.

Clinicians also removed Sangha's spleen and treated pneumonia during her stay. Medical staff informed her that the gallstones discovered during treatment might need additional surgery in future.

NHS, UK Sepsis Trust warnings and symptoms

Sepsis is a rare but serious condition in which the body's immune response attacks its own tissues and organs. The NHS says it is life-threatening and can be hard to spot; the UK Sepsis Trust places the scale of sepsis-related mortality at about 50, 000 deaths in the UK each year. Symptoms in adults can include slurred speech, extreme shivering or muscle pain, severe breathlessness and skin that is mottled or discoloured.

What makes this notable is the apparent triviality of the suspected trigger—a dog lick on a small cut or scratch—that preceded a rapid collapse into life-threatening sepsis. Sangha has made a point of warning others about how quickly the condition unfolded and why early recognition matters. "It could happen to anybody, " she said, stressing the need for vigilance over minor wounds and sudden, severe symptoms.

Her case underscores both the speed with which sepsis can progress and the range of medical steps that may follow: emergency resuscitation, intensive care, multiple surgeries and long rehabilitation. The full long-term impact of Sangha's injuries and the potential for additional surgery remain part of her ongoing recovery.