Came for a routine heart checkup and lost her arms and legs
41-year-old Leslie Cowili from San Diego was completely healthy when she arrived for a routine heart checkup. Doctors discovered a life-threatening aortic dissection and rushed her into an eight-and-a-half-hour emergency surgery. Her life was saved, but in the weeks that followed, blood flow to her arms and legs was severely compromised, and doctors were forced to amputate her limbs.
A routine medical checkup completely changed the life of 41-year-old Leslie Cowili from California. Cowili, a mother of two daughters and a competitive powerlifter, arrived on May 1st for a heart checkup, where it turned out she was suffering from a type A aortic dissection, a life-threatening tear in the main artery exiting the heart. Her husband, Lee Cowili, said that the couple did not even know how dangerous her condition was.
"She might have only had a few hours to live, and we didn't even know it," Lee said.
Doctors made it clear that without immediate surgery, she could die. Cowili was rushed into emergency surgery that lasted about eight and a half hours, which included being connected to a heart-lung machine and extensive reconstruction of the aorta. The surgery was successful and her life was saved, but the recovery was particularly difficult and she required, among other things, ventilation, dialysis, and an ECMO system to support her heart and lungs.
In the weeks following the surgery, a severe problem developed with blood flow to the limbs. Her husband said that the family did not know at first how her body would react to the treatment, but gradually her hands and feet stopped receiving sufficient blood supply.
"By the end of the first month, her hands and feet were already black and shriveled," he said.
Necrosis developed in the tissues of her hands and legs, and the doctors realized that the limbs could not be saved. Eventually, both of Cowili's arms were amputated in the mid-forearm area, and she also lost both of her legs. Her husband described the last few months as an ongoing struggle: "Every day was a battle for her. Every day was a struggle."
Before the incident, Cowili was very active and competed in powerlifting competitions throughout the San Diego area. Her family emphasizes that precisely because she appeared healthy, the sudden discovery of the aortic tear was completely unexpected. Now, after months in the hospital, she is nearing discharge, but the family home in Spring Valley requires significant adjustments so she can return to it. Family members are looking for carpenters, electricians, air conditioning installers, tilers, painters, and other professionals to help make the house accessible. "She just wants to go home to her family and children," her husband said.
