A MOTHER of three has spoken about the ‘traumatic’ illness that left her fighting for her life in hospital.

37-year-old Samantha Lewis battled pancreatitis, sepsis, and organ failure, and spent time in a medically induced coma following complications with a gallstone in her bile duct.

The Bournemouth mother was first taken to Royal Bournemouth Hospital in March last year following months of ‘excruciating’ chest pains.

Samantha said: “I went to watch my son play football and when I was driving back I got chest pains that were like heart attack pains. They were awful. I couldn’t breathe properly.

“The paramedics came and said it was long Covid because I had Covid back in Christmas.

“Then on a morning in March, at about 5am, I had this awful pain and I collapsed on the floor.

“I got admitted into hospital. They ran a CT scan 48 hours later and they found a gallstone that blocked my bile duct.”

Bournemouth Echo: Samantha's children visiting her in hospitalSamantha's children visiting her in hospital (Image: Samantha Lewis)

Samantha describes how she remained in hospital for the next sixth months, and during that time developed pancreatitis, sepsis, and organ failure.

She was also moved in and out of intensive care and at one point, was placed in an induced coma at Southampton Hospital.

She said: “My body was shutting down. I was told I was basically dying.

“I lost three and a half stone; I lost my hair and everything.

“It was horrendous, and lifechanging.”

Although Samantha is now stable, she struggles to walk due to muscle atrophy, and has returned to hospital during recovery.

Now, she is calling for members of the public to keep a close eye on their health.

Samantha said: “It all got missed because of Covid. The seriousness of it was never picked up.

"I didn’t know that I had these gallstones in me for obviously a couple of years that no one picked up on. It almost cost me my life.

"Anyone that has any chest pains, you should get it addressed straight away."