A mum who had been 'drinking vodka all night' almost needed to have her legs amputated because she fell asleep in an awkward position.
Julia Anderson, from Canada, returned home after a girls' night out and passed out on her bed, curled up on top of her legs while facing downwards in January 2020.
Her mum Sandra Anderson, 70, checked on her in the morning and realised that she couldn't move.
The 36-year-old couldn't work her legs which had doubled in size throughout the night.
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Sandra called an ambulance and the mum-of-one was rushed to hospital to undergo tests and x-rays.
Results showed that Julia had compartment syndrome caused by lying in an awkward position which blocked the blood flow to her legs.
Compartment syndrome 'is an increase in pressure inside a muscle, which restricts blood flow and causes pain', according to the NHS.
"If it happens suddenly, it can be serious and need treatment as soon as possible," the health service said.
Doctors were forced to perform a life-saving operation where Julia's left leg was sliced open and muscle was cut off to relieve the swelling, reducing the toxins being released into her bloodstream.
Julia, who was carrying 40lb-50lb of excess fluid, was kept in hospital for five weeks where she underwent dialysis, had a blood transfusion and a skin graft op.
"I went on a night out with friends. I remember I was drinking vodka all night, I was drinking a lot of straight liquor," Julia said three years on from the incident, still unable to walk properly at the time.
"We didn't eat. Pre-drinks and bar drinks combined, it was the equivalent of 20 drinks, so quite a bit.
"I was drunker than normal. When I got home I just thought 'go to bed Julia' and I passed out curled up on top of my legs face down.
"I was living with my mom and she came down to check on me because she knew I'd not been in a good state.
"She said I needed to move but I couldn't. At first she didn't believe me, but she had to help roll me onto my back and then I still couldn't move.
"I fell back asleep, woke up an hour later and I still couldn't move my legs. All I could think to myself was 'did I break my legs or something? Why can't I move my legs?'.
"They weren't sore, but they were double their usual size so I called out to my mom who called an ambulance."
Julia was rushed into surgery 'because my muscle was deteriorating and releasing toxins into my bloodstream causing my body to swell up and my kidneys to shut down'.
"After the first surgery I was in intensive care for two weeks strapped to a device to drain the fluid as I was still huge," she explained.
"They then brought a kidney dialysis machine into the room and hooked me up to it.
"The haemoglobin levels in my blood dropped so low I had to have a couple of blood transfusions too.
"They then did a skin graft from my thigh. The nerve damage was so bad I was screaming out in the middle of the night with the pain.
"I was in pain constantly. Imagine your leg is falling asleep but that tingling feeling is times a thousand, like a sharp shooting electric shock up my leg."
She has urged people to '"have some food and some water, don't just pass out because you won't wake up if the circulation gets cut off'.
Symptoms of compartment syndrome
The NHS says that 'it most often affects the muscles in the lower legs and forearms'.
Symptoms include:
- pain in a muscle – this may feel like a burning pain or a deep ache (moving the body part can make the pain even worse)
- swelling or bulging of the muscle
- numbness, weakness or pins and needles
- tightness or difficulty moving the affected body part
Anish Vij