Bride who lost her leg during pandemic walks down aisle with darkly funny tattoo

09 February 2024 , 15:57

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Molly Harbron, 25, on her wedding day. (Image: Courtesy Irwin Mitchell / SWNS)

A 25-year-old carer had her leg amputated after doctors took too long to treat a blood clot during lockdown walked down the aisle with a comedic tattoo on her leg. 

Molly Harbron, 25, who is now reliant on a prosthetic leg and a wheelchair, was determined to stand in her wedding dress when she tied the knot with husband Daniel, also 25, last August.  On her right leg, the tattoo reads: "They'll pinch owt these days" and points to her prosthetic leg.  After her surgery, she said she was left feeling that "life wasn’t worth living" but has since defied the odds and walked down the aisle three years later.

Molly, who is now seeking compensation for her rehabilitation, was 22 when she went to Dewsbury and District Hospital’s A&E department at around 11:30am on April 25, 2020. She was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening complication, and admitted to the ward just after 7:30pm.

Molly in hospital, post amputation (Courtesy Irwin Mitchell / SWNS)

Molly wears a prosthetic following her leg amputation. (Courtesy Irwin Mitchell / SWNS)

But around 30 minutes later, following a review, it was suspected she had a deep vein thrombosis. Following a further review, medics were concerned about reduced blood flow to her lower left leg and called another hospital for an opinion. A radiology report at 11:30pm suggested Molly had blood clots and a blocked artery behind her left knee.

She was eventually transferred to another hospital and was in theatre for surgery just after 1:30pm on April 26, more than 16 hours later. Surgeons could not restore blood flow to her lower left leg, and after first undergoing a below-the-knee amputation, they removed more of her limb above her knee days later. Molly spent a further 18 days in hospital and had to give up her job as a carer.

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She told the Telegraph: "It was petrifying. I woke up and was shown that I had no leg. It was absolutely awful. I broke down in tears and was crying over the phone to my Mum. But I was all alone in the hospital because of lockdown restrictions, it felt like a nightmare. I remember joking with the surgeon before the operation and saying ‘don’t chop my leg off because you’ll make me an inch shorter. He responded ‘I’ll make you two inches shorter if you aren’t careful’."

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, which runs Dewsbury and District Hospital, later admitted a breach of duty and apologised to Molly. If it was not for the breach of duty, Molly would have undergone surgery by 9pm on the day she attended hospital. On the balance of probabilities, the surgery would have been successful and would have avoided the need for both the below and above-knee amputation, the Trust admitted.

Rachel Hagan