Woman mauled by dogs wakes from coma but is sedated after learning she lost both arms
Kyleen Waltman may also lose a leg
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A woman mauled by pit bulls woke from almost two weeks in a coma but had to be immediately sedated after seeing she had lost both arms.
Kyleen Waltman, 38, also had part of her colon removed and may lose a leg after she was attacked by dogs in South Carolina on 21 March.
Sister Amy Wynn wrote in a GoFundMe update that Ms Waltman had been “fully woken up” after multiple surgeries.
“The doctors told her about her arms but, it caused her a great deal of anxiety, so they sedated her,” Ms Wynn wrote.
“Mama says it’s like she’s giving up. Before ya’ll go assuming we as her family are not giving up.”
Ms Wynn added that the family were trying to figure out how to keep negative thoughts from her mind so she can live a full life after doctors removed the last remaining parts of her arms, meaning she can’t be fitted with regular prosthetics.
The part of her right shoulder where a prosthetic would have fit was removed last week after it began to show signs of infection.
She was placed back on life support with scans of her lungs showing they were full of fluid, and she has remained on and off a life-support ventilator since.
The family is hoping they don’t also have to amputate her left leg, which Ms Wynn has said is worse than doctors originally thought.
“I understand that for 38 years she’s had arms and now she doesn’t, how she’s thinking. She’s still fighting,” she added on GoFundMe, which has raised almost $165,000 for medical expenses.
The South Carolina mother of three was still being attacked by the animals when a passerby found her rolled into a ditch by the side of the road, her other sister, Sheena Green, told the Associated Press.
All three of the dogs, two of which were identified as pit bulls, remain in the possession of Abbeville Animal Control.
Their owner, Justin L Minor, has been charged with three counts of animals/penalty for the owner of dangerous animal attacks and injures a human, animals/rabies control chapter violation, and animals/dangerous animals not permitted beyond premises unless restrained, WYFF reported.