Mum meets the heroic team who saved her life at Warrington Hospital

At the end of November last year, Adele Darlington, from Stockton Heath, underwent a planned caesarean section.

This was Adele’s fourth caesarean section operation, and it was her fifth child.  Jasmine Faye Darlington was delivered safely on November 28.

Adele had placenta praevia, a condition that affects around one in 200 births and involves the placenta partially or wholly blocking the neck of the uterus which interferes with the normal delivery of a baby.

During the operation, the 40-year-old suffered heavy blood loss, which is a recognised complication of the condition, and she continued to bleed in recovery following the birth of Jasmine.

As a result, Adele required a further emergency operation which lasted between seven and eight hours. Throughout this, she continued to bleed heavily.

At one point, it was unclear if Adele would make it due to the blood loss. She lost around 15 litres of blood and in total, she received more than 70 units of blood products.

An incident such as this at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been described as ‘phenomenally rare’.

Thankfully, due to the hard work and dedication of various teams at the Lovely Lane site, Adele’s life was saved and she was transferred to the intensive care unit.

She woke up the next day and was able to meet Jasmine.

Talking to the Warrington Guardian, Adele said how she has some memories of the day, including of when she was returned to theatre.

“I remember when I was returned to theatre for a second time, shortly after coming out, and I remember being told that they needed to save my life,” Adele said.

“I saw lots of faces over me as I was prepped to be put under general anaesthetic, and I asked if I was going to die as I sensed the seriousness and I was scared of being put to sleep.

“They told me they were going to look after me, and they certainly did.

“During the second emergency operation, my family were called in to prepare to say goodbye, but the teams didn’t stop for a second and I will be eternally thankful of their efforts to save me.”

During intensive care, Adele had to learn to walk and eat again. When she left hospital, she had to use a wheelchair.

However, now, despite some ongoing health issues, Adele is ‘doing great’ and is ‘on the road to recovery’.

She added: “I am a million miles away from where I was thanks to the NHS and their care.”

Adele’s life has changed since the incident. Besides her day-to-day life being at a slower pace due to health issues, the mum-of-five has learned to appreciate the little things.

She said: “I am so grateful to be here and to be able to enjoy all the little things like outings to the park, school runs, and cuddles on the couch.

“It is easy to get caught up in hectic and busy lifestyles and not appreciate these simple things as much as we should.

“This has made me take a step back from the usual busy moments of life to just enjoy the present moment even more than usual.

“I remember daily that I am lucky to be here.”

The life-saving treatment performed on Adele required a huge team effort and saw various departments come together, despite them rarely crossing paths.

This included teams from maternity, anaesthetics, surgery, theatre, transfusion, and the ICU.

Last Friday, the hospital hosted a special presentation, headed by chief executive Professor Simon Constable, to honour and celebrate each and every dedicated staff member involved in saving Adele’s life.

As well as being celebrated with certificates, badges, and refreshments, to make the event even more special, Adele attended along with her husband Ian and Jasmine.

“If you ever needed reminding of why we do what we do, I think we have three people in the room who very much remind us of it,” Professor Constable said.

Adele was able to personally thank and even hug each member of the team involved in saving her life.

Talking about the occasion, Adele said: “I was quite nervous about seeing everyone.

“I’d had my intensive care follow up meeting two days prior, so it was already quite an emotional week, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel seeing everyone in the same room.

“But as soon as I saw their friendly faces, all my nerves washed away.

“I was so happy that I was able to thank each person individually and to give each one a big hug.

“They thoroughly deserve this recognition and I'm so happy for them to be acknowledged.”

Adele said she will never be able to express how grateful she is to the team who saved her life and who have allowed her to continue being a mum to her children, Sophia, 10, Juliette, 8, Isabella, 6, and Sasha, 3, as well as a wife and a daughter.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you, and many more who weren't at the awards.

“I can never express how thankful I am. There are no words or ways to express this. 

“So many incredible teams came together to save me.

“I'm grateful every day for them not giving up on me and allowing me to continue to be a mum, wife and a daughter to my family.

“The NHS is a truly wonderful set of people who work tirelessly day in and day out.

“I will never forget the teams involved in allowing me to be here today.”

Professor Constable added: “I am delighted that we were able to hold such an extraordinary You Made a Difference presentation for our multi-disciplinary teams, which was made extra special thanks to Adele, Ian and baby Jasmine joining us for the occasion.

“It was important that we took the opportunity to say a proper thank you to everyone involved, including our midwifery and obstetrics, anaesthetics,  ICU, theatres, surgical and transfusion teams.

“These are teams that may not always usually work together but came together in a heartbeat to provide excellent clinical and holistic care to Adele and her family, enabling them to be home together for Christmas.

“We’re grateful to Adele for nominating our colleagues for this award and send our best wishes as she continues on the road to recovery.”