30-year-old Callie Colwick, who lives in McKinney, Texas, could not have been hit with anything worse in life. During the 15th week of her pregnancy, she and her husband, Kevin, were told by their doctor that the baby inside her had a rare, serious condition, and, sadly, would not survive birth, a birth that could happen at any time from that point. Two weeks later, Callie was induced and gave birth to a stillborn son named Quinn.
Said Callie: ‘They put me in the pregnancy wing. Here we were in this room, surrounded by women giving birth and babies crying and we were told that Quinn had no chance of survival and we were just waiting to give birth to him.”
But during the labor, Callie started bleeding heavily, and her blood pressure bottomed out. She developed septic shock. This caused sepsis and her kidneys and lungs started shutting down on her. Doctors immediately put her on life support, and Kevin was told to brace for the worst.
A short time later, doctors, because no blood was getting to parts of her body, had to amputate both of her legs, and her left thumb and forefinger. Her uterus also was removed. It was one devastating, horrible tragedy after another.
Callie had been diagnosed with placenta accreta, where the main organ for fetus nutrients attached itself too deeply to the uterine wall. That creates a major complication and can cause premature birth and heavy bleeding.
Said Callie: ‘I was fading in and out of consciousness. I wasn’t responsive, my eyes would roll to the back of my head and I was burning up. My fever had spiked way too high and they were packing ice onto me. They broke my water and he was born. Quinn was too tiny to survive; he went straight to heaven. My husband was stuck between mourning the loss of his son and making all these medical decisions.’
Her little boy weighed just half a pound. Because of the severe blood loss, a trauma doctor was flown in from Dallas.
Said Callie: “My world went black. That infection overrode my entire body. The sepsis shut down my kidneys and my lungs so I was on a breathing machine. My limbs started to die. My legs were black and shrivelled up, my toes looked like raisins.”
Two months later, her legs and fingers were amputated. There was a time where she was given no chance of survival. But she made it. And, after receiving skin grafts on her backside because of spending the past 2 years in hospital beds, she finally returned home. And her daughter, Kenzi, was so ecstatic to see her out of those hospitals.
Callie needed a custom wheelchair to get around in, but her insurance refused to cover it. Callie wrote about her frustrations on social media and made some videos. A woman named Amy came across her story and she began crying. She then started a fundraising campaign for Callie. Much-needed funds soon started pouring in, and thanks to an extremely kind and anonymous stranger, the $11,000 wheelchair she needed was gifted to her. Callie and Amy met in person a short time later.
Said Amy: “She shared with me what that wheelchair would actually do for her. She told me that it was the first time in three years that she was able to go to the bathroom by herself.”
Callie said that despite all the things that she’s been through, she hopes she can be an inspiration to others. And we’re sure she will be.
