'I saw my GP for stomach pain - moments later I was fighting for my life in ICU'

23 May 2023 , 19:30

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Olivia Wills was absolutely fine just days before fighting for her life in a coma (Image: cornwalllive)

A student who went to a doctor with stomach pain has told how she ended up on an ICU ward just hours later.

Olivia Wills, from Falmouth, Cornwall, walked herself into A&E on a Thursday night feeling unwell and by Sunday evening she was being blue-lighted to London in a coma.

The 23-year-old, who is a paediatric nursing student at Plymouth University, was diagnosed with long-term chronic health conditions - including Fowler's Syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos and requires a feeding tube due to stomach problems.

Her diagnosis was so severe that just days after feeling unwell, her family was being told to prepare for the worst.

Olivia went to her GP with complaints of stomach pain and vomiting in 2019 before being referred to Derriford Hospital for further tests, reports Cornwall Live.

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Initially, the then-19 year old, thought it was nothing serious, but later said: "I started getting confused and I was in and out of consciousness."

Olivia thanking the hospital team that saved her life (cornwalllive)

Blood tests the following morning confirmed that she was in acute liver failure. Her condition quickly deteriorated and she was placed into a medically induced coma and transferred to King's College Hospital in London.

Here her family were told she may not survive.

She added: "I was suffering from severe acute liver failure, hepatic encephalopathy and various complications. I spent nine days in a coma, where I was truly fighting for my life.

"However, I survived due to the wonderful care I received. As a thank you to the NHS for saving my life, my dad ended up enquiring about donating a kidney to a stranger and that donation finally happened in November 2021.

"Although I never required a transplant, we were once in a position where we thought I would and that I need to rely on another family saying yes to organ donation to save my life.

Olivia pictured with her dad (cornwalllive)

"My dad felt compelled to help another family in a similar situation. He also says this was as a result of seeing what King's do for organ donation."

Now Olivia and her father Simon Wills, 57, will lead The Great Hospital Hike in London in September to raise money for the hospital that saved her life. For more information and to donate, click here.

She added: "I've always said nothing can prepare you for being critically unwell and both me and my family went through a terrifying experience but both experienced it in very different way.

"My family were told to expect the worst and to spend time at my bedside because the odds were stacked against me."

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Lisa Letcher