Kerrie McDonald almost lost her life after a charging lamb left her with a rare flesh-eating infection

An innocuous farmyard incident with Kerrie McDonald’s pet lamb didn’t even hurt – but it eventually put her into a coma and led to the loss of her legs.

Kerrie McDonald almost lost her life when an encounter with her pet lamb landed her in a coma with a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection.

Now she lives with two missing limbs – her right leg from the hip and part of her left leg from just below the knee.

“The first thing my partner (Kym) said to me when I came out of a coma was, ‘Do you want me to make lamp chops’,” she said.

In May 2018, the 53-year-old was loading a trailer of sheep when her pet lamb, Lamby, jumped from the trailer and ran at her at full speed.

It slammed into her right leg, just above the knee.

“It didn’t even hurt,” Ms McDonald said.

“I was a little sore but I just kept working – then it went drastically downhill.”

Kerrie McDonald's life changed after an unlikely encounter with her pet lamb left her with a flesh-eating bacteria.

Kerrie McDonald developed a flesh-eating bacterial infection and now aims to live a fulfilling life despite losing her legs. She is pictured on her property in Wellington with her horse Bella and dog Oakley. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Three days after the incident, she began to feel extremely sick.

She went to Tailem Bend District Hospital before being taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where doctors put her in an induced coma for eight weeks.

Ms McDonald was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis – a rare, potentially fatal, flesh-eating bacterial infection that spreads quickly through the body.

“They had no choice but to amputate my right leg,” the Kingston-born woman said.

“I then lost two toes from my left foot and many bits of veins, muscles and digits.

“My partner and my Mum were both called in to the hospital a number of times to say goodbye. There was no guarantee (that she would live).”

Eventually, Ms McDonald’s left leg was amputated from the knee as well.

The schoolteacher spent nine months in the RAH before spending another eight in rehabilitation at the Flinders Medical Centre.

During her hospital stay, while she was slowly coming out of a coma, Ms McDonald asked her nurse to scratch her leg which she said was itchy.

“The nurse just slowly backed away and left the room,” she said.

For Ms McDonald, discovering she had lost her legs was a slow process.

“When you’re in a coma, the drugs do terrible things to your body and your memory,” she said.

“I don’t actually remember a time when I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’ve had my leg amputated’. It was just kind of there, like you’re in a weird dream.”

Kerrie McDonald lost her legs after her pet lamb rammed into her. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Kerrie McDonald loves riding at the Riding Patch at Strathalbyn.

Kerrie McDonald goes to the gym two to three times a week.

Kerrie McDonald on her property in Wellington with her horse Bella. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Ms McDonald was told by local doctors she would “be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life”.

Unable to take no for an answer, she travelled to Sydney to meet Professor Munjed Al Muderis, a leading hip and knee orthopaedic surgeon, who said although he could not “promise” she would be able to walk again but “they would give it a good try”.

She had osseointegration surgery in which a metal rod was inserted into the bone of her residual limb.

“I can now walk with crutches,” Ms McDonald said.

The surgery means she simply needs to use an allen key to screw her prosthetic legs on to her body.

“I have a T-shirt that says ‘Assembly required’,” she said.

Kerrie McDonald almost lost her life after an incident with her pet lamb landed her in a coma with a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection.

The Kingston-born woman does not walk full-time just yet but is continuing to gain strength.

Kerrie wants to continue to improve her horse-riding skills despite losing her legs.

Kerrie McDonald still loves the lamb who ran into her causing her to contract a flesh-eating bacterial infection.

Despite losing her limbs, Ms McDonald continues to live an active life visiting friends and family and riding her horse Bella.

“I’m going to live life to the fullest,” she said. “Accidents happen, it’s just one of those things.”

Despite Ms McDonald’s extremely positive attitude about her amputation, she does have “doona days” where she struggles to get out of bed.

“You know, when you just can’t deal with it and you just go to bed for a couple of hours,” she said.

And as for Lamby? Well, she is still Ms McDonald’s pet and is “loving life”.

Originally published as Kerrie McDonald almost lost her life after a charging lamb left her with a rare flesh-eating infection