Dog-bite amputee who lost 3 limbs offered wheelchair ramp
Christine Caron, 49, holds out hope right hand won't also be lost
An Ottawa couple has offered to build a wheelchair-accessible ramp for an Ottawa woman who lost her legs and left arm after a severe infection from a dog bite.
Christine Caron, 49, was playing tug-of-war with her dogs on May 22 when one of them "nipped" her hand. She was rushed to hospital three days later, the single mother of four told CBC News this past weekend.
Caron had suffered life-threatening septicaemia, or septic shock, which resulted in disseminated intravascular coagulation and widespread internal hemorrhaging.
She was in a medically induced coma until earlier this month.
Her legs had to be amputated below the knees, and her arm below the elbow. There is also concern for her right hand, and she is awaiting surgery on it.
Caron will have some of the health-care costs covered by Ontario's health insurance program, but she will still have to cover the leftover costs of health care, medication, prosthetics and renovations to make her home accessible with a wheelchair.
Landscaping, construction
Shayne and Jessica Valinsky said they had to help after seeing Caron's story and her positive spirits, on CBC News.
The self-proclaimed dog lovers said they were shocked about the incident and offered to build a wheelchair-accessible ramp at the woman's home.
"I had never even heard anything like that could happen," said Shayne Valinsky, who owns a landscaping company.
"I just hope (the ramp) makes her life a little easier and frees up the money that she's getting donated for some other things that she needs."
The couple has invited other landscaping and construction companies to offer a helping hand to build the ramp.
Caron's daughter, Danica, has also created a fundraising website for her mother with a goal of $100,000, as each prosthetic device could cost anywhere between $10,000 and $15,000 each.
As of Wednesday morning, the website had raised about half of that goal as Caron recovers in hospital.