When Cindy Mullins fell ill with a kidney stone complication a few weeks ago, she had no idea how devastating the impact would be.

A relatively common illness that would usually have no long-term consequences quickly escalated into an unimaginable nightmare.

In what the 41-year-old herself described as ‘a perfect storm’, it all started when a kidney stone she needed removing got infected and became septic.

The nurse was taken to Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford, and then rushed to the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington in an ambulance where she was heavily sedated for days.

When she finally woke up, her legs were gone.

Doctors were forced to amputate her legs in order to save her life. But that wasn’t even the worst of it for Cindy.

The mother-of-two was then also told that she would need to lose both of her arms below the elbow too.

Kidney stone surgery can cause infection, blood loss during the procedure, and cause injury to other parts of the body, but what happened to Cindy was extreme – and as she said herself: ‘Quite rare.’

Despite the horrific news, she was surprisingly positive about her situation.

‘I’ve lost both my arms and legs, bilaterally,’ she told LEX 18. ‘This is what’s happening…These are the cards I’ve been dealt, and this is the hand I’m going to play.

‘I’m still happy to be alive… I get to see my kids, my family, so [the amputation] is a minor thing at this point.’

More than £78,000 has been raised on a GoFundMe page set up by her friend Heather Beshears.

Heather wrote: ‘Cindy, as most of her friends call her, is a lovely, caring, brave and beautiful young lady who has recently experienced a life-changing tragedy that will leave her as a quadruple amputee. 

‘Cindy and her family will have to make a few adjustments to their home to accommodate Cindy’s needs as well as her prosthetics and adaptive equipment. 

‘The costs of all of this can be overwhelming. We started this fundraiser because we want to support our hero Cindy, as well as her husband DJ who has been by her side every step of the way. 

‘Cindy and DJ have two young children who are missing their mom and dad terribly. 

‘Sometimes life is hard and there’s no way around it. Cindy and DJ’s world has come to a complete stop, but the world around them continues to move forward. 

‘Let’s help ease their burden while they heal and get back to their lives.

‘We hope to be able to allow Cindy to focus on her recovery.’

Her sister Luci said: ‘We would like to thank everyone again for all of the support, love, prayers, cards, food and visits (her favourite). You guys are amazing.

‘In the next few days we will move to Cardinal Hill for a couple weeks and then come back for hopefully her final surgery. 

‘Each day is a blessing from God and we will continue to praise him for the miracles he has performed. 

‘Friday she got to leave the room and we ventured outside for some fresh crisp air. Keep praying and she’ll keep fighting until we are finally home.’

Cindy added: ‘Slow down. Appreciate the things around you, especially your family.

‘It’s okay to let people take care of you.

‘If one person from this can see God from all this, that made it all worth it.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.