Woman left fighting for life after routine manicure at ritzy Sydney salon
A young Sydney woman has revealed she was hospitalised and left fighting for her life after going for a manicure at her local nail salon.
A young Sydney woman has issued a dire warning after a routine Valentine’s Day manicure left her battling sepsis, undergoing six surgeries, and losing part of her finger.
Claudia Ruffin, 27, says her life was derailed within just hours of having her nails done at a nail salon in Sydney’s ritzy suburb of Double Bay.
In heartbreaking videos on social media, Ms Ruffin detailed the experience that “changed her life forever.”
The manicure was meant to be a simple Valentine’s Day treat in 2024, but within hours, Ms Ruffin said she felt “off.”
“My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I had blurry vision. My toes felt numb,” she said in a TikTok video.
Her quick-thinking friend rushed her to the emergency unit at St Vincent’s Hospital, where doctors kept her overnight due to worrying blood results.
By the next morning, her thumb was swollen, but nurses weren’t initially alarmed until they spotted red tracking lines from her thumb all the way to her neck.
Ms Ruffin says that within an hour, her thumb turned black and began spreading down her hand.
Emergency surgery was booked immediately.
What followed was one month in hospital undergoing treatment for sepsis, which Ms Ruffin described as “hell.”
“I barely remember my first week in hospital,” she said.
For weeks she was in and out of theatre and underwent six surgeries, 48 stitches and one skin graft.
“They had to amputate down to my nail bed,” she said.
“A plastic surgeon reconstructed it at the end, but I still can’t fully use it or feel anything.”
The young woman posted an update to her Instagram account at the time, after nearly two weeks in hospital, but with her battle still far from over.
“Over the course of the last 13 days #sepsis has left me bed ridden on intravenous antibiotics, undergoing 5 surgeries which included a skin graft to repair the necrotic tissue I lost on my thumb, all caused by a Strep infection I contracted during a routine nail manicure,” she captioned the below photo.
“I cannot stress the importance of doing your own due diligence on nail salons to ensure they are maintaining hygienic and sterile practices and to understand the risks. Because I didn’t.”
Ms Ruffin later updated the post to reflect the latest in her recovery journey. “It may have been too premature to write this post when I did. Ended up having 6 surgeries, spent a month in hospital and totalled 38 stitches. What a ride,” she wrote.
Ms Ruffin told her followers that after a painful year in-and-out of hospital, she is now sharing her story to raise awareness.
“It’s really important that I spread awareness of sepsis,” she said.
“To everyone that gets manicures, make sure you go to safe and certified places and that they’re using sterile practices.”
The 27-year-old has since posted a touching tribute to her closest family and friends, thanking them for being by her side throughout the horrifying experience.
“I will never take my health for granted after this experience,” she wrote.
“I will forever feel indebted to the amazing nurses, doctors, family members, and friends who got me through this.
“After all, sickness is just as much a mental battle as it is a physical one.”
According to Health NSW, nail technicians are responsible for putting infection control practices in place to prevent infections spreading from one person to another.
Skin penetration treatments such as cuticle cutting, razor scraping and cuticle pushing can allow viral, bacterial and fungal infections to be spread by contaminated equipment and surfaces.
Sepsis is a terrifying condition that occurs when the body has an extreme response to infection. Death can occur in as little as 12 hours if it is left untreated.
Each year, over 55,000 Aussies contract sepsis, of which more than 8,700 will not survive.
According to Queensland Health, sepsis kills more Australians each year than road traffic accidents or strokes.
For adults that do survive sepsis, half will be left with a permanent disability.
Originally published as Woman left fighting for life after routine manicure at ritzy Sydney salon
