New mother forced to amputate leg

After always wanting a child of her own, Regena Williams was overjoyed when she finally became pregnant.

When her son was born on April 21, the first-time mother had all the dreams and plans that come with welcoming a new baby. However, just three weeks after giving birth, the joy of motherhood turned into a nightmare that left the Kingston woman fighting for her life and eventually losing her leg. Williams had spent a week in hospital after giving birth and was prescribed blood thinners when she was discharged.

“I just thought it was something that mothers normally got after having a baby,” she said. She was adjusting to life with her newborn when, around Mother’s Day, she felt an unusual pain beneath her foot. Thinking her body was still recovering from pregnancy and childbirth, she soaked her foot in warm water and Epsom salt. But the pain remained. Over the following weeks, she returned to hospital several times as the pain spread from the sole to her ankle and calf. She said she was sent for an ultrasound, given painkillers and later treated for what she understood to be soft tissue issues.

Then one morning about 2 a.m., everything changed.

“I could barely feel my toes. I could not step down and I could not walk. My calf and my ankle were in so much pain, I could barely feel my leg,” she said. Her son’s father rushed her to hospital.

“When mi reach, mi just keep crying and crying and begging them fi hurry up because mi a say, ‘Mi nuh know wah a do mi leg. Mi nuh want dead.’” An MRI later revealed blood clots in an artery in her foot. Williams was eventually diagnosed with catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome and underwent multiple surgeries to remove the blood clots.

“When I came out [from surgery] the last time, the foot was fully dead. They couldn’t save it,” she said.

“I gave up. I started crying. My brain was going completely bizarre. I just didn’t know what to do. I just had a baby. I wanted my baby for so long, and when he’s finally here, I haven’t spent enough time with my child.”

Doctors warned her. “It was either my life or the foot. They said if I went home with it, I could develop sepsis and die, so I just decided, ‘Okay, take the leg,’” she said. She lost the leg on May 31. Today, she is still recovering physically and emotionally.

“It’s not easy, from being a girly girl, going out and owning a business, to being home with one leg. It’s not easy,” said Williams, who operated a smoothie business for four years. “I still sit here sometimes and ask myself, ‘Why me?’”

The hardest part, she said, has been feeling unable to experience motherhood the way she had imagined.

“I wanted to do everything with my child. The mommy and baby dress up, going places, photo shoots, activities. Now it pains my heart to see my son getting ready to go clinic or anywhere and I am just home watching.”

However, she said she has not been facing the difficult journey alone.

“My mother-in-law takes him to clinic and I’m grateful for her being a backbone. I live with my son’s father and he supports me. My family support me and even my family members abroad call daily to check in and pour into me to lift my spirit.”

The woman known to family and friends as ‘Regena Independent’ because of how hard she works, is now looking towards a future with a prosthetic leg, reopening her smoothie business and reclaiming her independence.

“Life doesn’t stop here. I want my son to grow up and look at mommy and know that mommy did not give up,” she said. “After getting the prosthetic, it’s just forward from here. I want to be the best mom I can be. I want my son to know that I am capable.”

But Williams has also found a new purpose in her pain. She wants to use her experience to encourage pregnant women and new mothers to pay attention to changes in their bodies and have conversations with healthcare professionals about symptoms and potential risks. Williams said she did not realise how serious blood clotting could be during or after pregnancy until she experienced it herself. She believes more awareness could help women know what questions to ask and when to seek medical attention.