Amalie like many other young woman her age was going to school, working part-time and managing life with severe Crohn’s disease. She was no stranger to Crohn’s complications, she had many hospital stays and had adjusted well to life with an ileostomy. Amalie had just turned 18 and aged out of care from the Children’s hospital transitioning to adult care. For families of children with chronic illness there are many complications and risks faced during this transition period. Unfortunately Amalie’s family was no exemption.

Thanksgiving weekend 2023, when Amalie began to feel uncomfortable, suspecting another bowel obstruction, she and her mother Amanda headed to an emergency room half an hour from their hometown.
After an overnight wait in the emergency room, treatment for an obstruction was finally started. The ER didn’t seem to understand the urgency in accessing care for a Crohn’s complications. Amalie had just started on a new biological medication, although she did not know it at the time, her Crohn's was in fact, in remission. This was not another bowel obstruction.

After 18 hours Amalie was admitted when she began to feel symptoms she had never felt before. Her pain levels had increased exponentially and she had an overwhelming sense of dread. During report at shift change, a nurse lifted the sheets to take Amalie’s vitals and noticed the her fingers had turned bluish purple and she was starting to crash. There was a sudden whirlwind of activity. Amalie, in horrific pain was whisked away for emergency surgery, her parents told to say their goodbyes as she was not expected to survive.

Amalie woke from a 3 week induced coma to the news that she had experienced a tear in her intestine that had escalated to septic shock. In addition to losing several more inches of her small intestine, the ileostomy had been redone urgently, Amalie was being transferred immediately to another hospital for the amputation of her both hands and feet to survive.

Amalie is still very early in her recovery, but has been fitted and is walking with lower limb prosthetics. She is really looking forward to a functional upper limb that would offer her more independence. Septic shock took her limbs, but did not take her spunk. She’s already started to speak publicly about septic shock, wanting others to understand that sepsis and septic shock can happen to anyone… recognizing early symptoms can make a difference. She is documenting her journey in recovery on TikTok and Instagram.

"I'm still recovering, but I hope that in the future, I can keep making my difference in the community of young amputees, or any young person who goes through medical trauma."
~ Amalie Henze