A woman was left fighting for her life after she started suffering from sepsis and heart failure weeks after recovering from COVID-19 – which resulted in her spending 10 days in a coma. 

Jamie Waddell, 36, from Springfield, Illinois, tested positive for COVID-19 back in August.

She suffered from ‘body aches, fatigue, fever, and sinus congestion’ for about 10 days before she started to feel better.

After recovering, the 36-year-old returned back to work – but a few weeks later, she suddenly started to feel dizzy and lightheaded while out for a walk.

A woman was left fighting for her life after she started suffering from sepsis and heart failure weeks after recovering from COVID-19, which resulted in her spending 10 days in a coma

A woman was left fighting for her life after she started suffering from sepsis and heart failure weeks after recovering from COVID-19, which resulted in her spending 10 days in a coma

A woman was left fighting for her life after she started suffering from sepsis and heart failure weeks after recovering from COVID-19, which resulted in her spending 10 days in a coma

Jamie Waddell, 36, from Springfield, Illinois, tested positive for COVID-19 back in August, and she suffered from 'body aches, fatigue, fever, and sinus congestion' for about 10 days

Jamie Waddell, 36, from Springfield, Illinois, tested positive for COVID-19 back in August, and she suffered from 'body aches, fatigue, fever, and sinus congestion' for about 10 days

Jamie Waddell, 36, from Springfield, Illinois, tested positive for COVID-19 back in August, and she suffered from ‘body aches, fatigue, fever, and sinus congestion’ for about 10 days

After recovering, the 36-year-old returned back to work, but a few weeks later, she suddenly started to feel dizzy and lightheaded while out for a walk

After recovering, the 36-year-old returned back to work, but a few weeks later, she suddenly started to feel dizzy and lightheaded while out for a walk

After recovering, the 36-year-old returned back to work, but a few weeks later, she suddenly started to feel dizzy and lightheaded while out for a walk

Jamie brushed it off, but in the days that followed, she began suffering from ‘overwhelmingly bad’ fatigue which left her ‘barely’ able to move.

She decided to go to the emergency room, and was stunned when doctors told her that she had pneumonia, heart failure and sepsis

She decided to go to the emergency room, and was stunned when doctors told her that she had pneumonia, heart failure and sepsis

She decided to go to the emergency room, and was stunned when doctors told her that she had pneumonia, heart failure and sepsis

She decided to go to the emergency room, and was stunned when doctors told her that she had pneumonia, heart failure and sepsis – all likely caused by the COVID-19 weeks earlier.

By the time she arrived at the hospital, Jamie’s ‘heart and lungs were basically not working’ anymore and her ‘blood pressure and oxygen levels were really low.’

Doctors quickly implanted a device known as an Impella to help her heart pump blood, but they feared she might need a transplant.

She was in a coma for 10 days, but ‘miraculously’ got better on her own. And now, she’s sharing her story as a warning to others.

Jamie – who is vaccinated and boosted – recently spoke to the Today show about the horrifying ordeal, and she recalled feeling surprised over how sick she felt when she caught COVID-19 four months ago.

‘Body aches, fatigue, fever, your respiratory stuff, sinus congestion – I was sick for about 10 days before I started to feel better,’ she said. ‘I did start to feel better. I was back to work.’

By the time she arrived at the hospital, Jamie's 'heart and lungs were basically not working' anymore and her 'blood pressure and oxygen levels were really low'

By the time she arrived at the hospital, Jamie's 'heart and lungs were basically not working' anymore and her 'blood pressure and oxygen levels were really low'

By the time she arrived at the hospital, Jamie’s ‘heart and lungs were basically not working’ anymore and her ‘blood pressure and oxygen levels were really low’

She was in a coma for 10 days, but 'miraculously' got better. And now, she's sharing her story as a warning to others

She was in a coma for 10 days, but 'miraculously' got better. And now, she's sharing her story as a warning to others

She was in a coma for 10 days, but ‘miraculously’ got better. And now, she’s sharing her story as a warning to others

The 36-year-old described herself as someone who is 'very active with no health history' and said she normally walks three to five miles a day

The 36-year-old described herself as someone who is 'very active with no health history' and said she normally walks three to five miles a day

The 36-year-old described herself as someone who is ‘very active with no health history’ and said she normally walks three to five miles a day 

What is sepsis?  

Sepsis is the body’s extreme response to an infection. 

It happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body.

Without timely treatment, sepsis can rapidly lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death.

Symptoms include high heart rate or weak pulse, fever, shivering or feeling very cold, confusion or disorientation, shortness of breath, extreme pain or discomfort, and clammy or sweaty skin.

Source: CDC

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The 36-year-old – who described herself as someone who is ‘very active with no health history’ – normally walks three to five miles a day, but just after Labor Day when she was finishing up one of her daily walks she said she started to feel ‘very faint.’

‘I was walking down the street going, “Oh God, don’t pass out,”‘ she remembered. ‘That’s unusual for me. I am pretty active.

‘[But I thought], “Maybe I just took too long of a walk.” It was fairly warm that day. I didn’t think anything of it and went to work the next day.’

But as she started to get more and more ill, she decided to go to the hospital.

‘At that point, I knew something was wrong. You’re not getting better, you’re just feeling bad. You can barely move,’ she continued.

‘Based on the fact that I kept feeling worse and worse, I’m guessing my heart function had probably been declining over that whole week, and by the time I got to the ER, I was septic.

‘They did an echocardiogram. My heart function was really low. I was in heart failure.’

Doctors were sure Jamie would need a heart transplant, but she thankfully started to improve on her own.

‘We were amazed,’ one of her doctors, Dr. Bow ‘Ben’ Chung, told the outlet. ‘It was miraculous.’

Jamie - who is vaccinated and boosted - recently spoke to the Today show about the horrifying ordeal

Jamie - who is vaccinated and boosted - recently spoke to the Today show about the horrifying ordeal

'Based on the fact that I kept feeling worse and worse, I’m guessing my heart function had probably been declining over that whole week, and by the time I got to the ER, I was septic,' she recalled

'Based on the fact that I kept feeling worse and worse, I’m guessing my heart function had probably been declining over that whole week, and by the time I got to the ER, I was septic,' she recalled

Jamie – who is vaccinated and boosted – recently spoke to the Today show about the horrifying ordeal

She spent almost three weeks in total in the hospital, and during that time, she lost a lot of muscle which resulted in her having trouble walking at first. She is seen with her boyfriend

She spent almost three weeks in total in the hospital, and during that time, she lost a lot of muscle which resulted in her having trouble walking at first. She is seen with her boyfriend

She spent almost three weeks in total in the hospital, and during that time, she lost a lot of muscle which resulted in her having trouble walking at first. She is seen with her boyfriend

She needed to do physical therapy to regain her strength afterwards, but she has now fully recovered. She is seen in October, one month after the incident

She needed to do physical therapy to regain her strength afterwards, but she has now fully recovered. She is seen in October, one month after the incident

She needed to do physical therapy to regain her strength afterwards, but she has now fully recovered. She is seen in October, one month after the incident

Jamie spent almost three weeks in total in the hospital and during that time, she lost a lot of muscle which resulted in her having trouble walking at first.

She needed to do physical therapy to regain her strength afterwards – but she has now fully recovered.

As for the biggest lesson she learned from the incident – don’t push yourself too hard and too fast after recovering from an illness. 

‘I work too much. If you’re not feeling good, you should take the time to rest,’ she stressed. ‘Appreciate your body for what it can do.’

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