Kentucky Mom Whose Limbs Were Amputated After Kidney Infection Uses 'Training Legs' to Learn to Walk Again

A nurse from Kentucky is learning how to walk again with prosthetics after having her limbs amputated following a kidney infection

Published Time: 05.04.2024 - 07:31:04 Modified Time: 05.04.2024 - 07:31:04

A nurse from Kentucky is learning how to walk again with prosthetics after having her limbs amputated following a kidney infection.

Lucinda "Cindy" Mullins, a 41-year-old mother of two, was seen making progress in a GoFundMe update shared by a friend on Wednesday, April 3.

"Stepping in the right direction. One happy chic sic," the campaign's organizer, Heather Beshears, wrote alongside photos of a determined Mullins. In one image, Mullins is seen with her head up and her eyes closed as medical professionals help her stand with her prosthetic legs. In another, she can't hold back a smile.

"These are the training legs," Beshears wrote. "They will introduce the knees when she is ready."

The campaign has raised over $318,000 of its $350,000 goal as of April 4.

In a previous GoFundMe update shared on March 8, Mullins' husband DJ posted that Cindy had arrived at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital for "intense therapy" to get her ready for her "prosthetic journey."

"As if she wasn’t strong enough, she’s about to get stronger," he added.

Cindy had her legs and arms amputated after she suffered from an infected kidney stone in December, according to local news outletWLEX.

She began physical therapy on Jan. 2, and her loved ones h -

ave been documenting her journey on GoFundMe.

The quadruple amputation was the result of a “perfect storm," she recalled to WLEX earlier this year.

"The doctor I used to work with, he kind of was like, 'This is what they had to do to save your life. This is what's happened,’” Mullins told the outlet.

Following treatment, the kidney stone got infected, andshe became septic, Mullins added.

Sepsis, according to theMayo Clinic, is when the body responds improperly to an infection, which can ‘damage the lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs.”

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She was then transported from a hospital in Stanford to one in Lexington, where she was sedated for days.

As theCDCpoints out, followingsepsis, “Sometimes surgery is required to remove tissue damaged by the infection.”

After waking up, Mullins learned she would have to lose all four of her limbs.

“I'm just so happy to be alive,” Mullins told WLEX. “I get to see my kids. I get to see my family. I get to have my time with my husband. Those are minor things at this point.”

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