A mum-of-three became critically ill and was forced to learn to walk again — after what doctors believed to be long Covid was in fact a life-threatening flesh-eating disease that had ravaged her organs.

Sam Lewis, 38, from Bournemouth, spent six months in intensive care while recovering from an operation to remove half her pancreas — which had been destroyed by the infection.

The children’s entertainer first began to feel unwell in 2021, noticing chest pains one morning while getting her children ready for school.

When the worrying sensation persisted she visited the doctor, who diagnosed costochondritis — inflammation of the breastbone — and sent her home with painkillers.

The pills only helped temporarily, and the pain came back with avengence in March 2022, prompting another trip to the GP.

This time, her symptoms were ‘shrugged off’ as long Covid.  

But later that month she became unable to cope with the pain, forcing Ms Lewis to take herself to hospital.

Doctors performed a CT scan that revealed a gallstone was blocking her bile duct.

Sam Lewis believed she had minor chest inflammation, which doctors thought was caused by long Covid, until she ended up fighting for her life in hospital.

The mother-of-three said her family were called to her hospital bedside and asked to give their final goodbyes.

Gallstones are small stones, usually made of cholesterol, that form in the gallbladder. In most cases, they do not cause any symptoms and do not need to be treated. 

However, occasionally, they can lodge themselves in positions that causes them to block vital structures such as the bile duct — a tiny canal that connects some of the organs in the digestive system.   

Ms Lewis was hospitalised in order to treat the obstruction, however her health quickly took a turn for the worse. 

She’d developed pancreatitis — a deadly condition where the pancreas becomes extremely inflamed, causing agonising pain.

Further tests revealed the situation was even more serious; her condition had become necrotising, which means the organ tissue is so damaged it starts to die off.

In most cases, this causes bacteria to infect the tissue and begin to ‘eat away’ at it. 

Speaking of the ordeal she said: ‘Pancreatitis is evil and it can take you.

The children’s entertainer spent six months in hospital recovering from major surgery which affected her ability to walk.

 ‘It went from acute to necrotising overnight.

‘My whole body swelled up — I looked like I was eight months pregnant. I couldn’t move my ankles.’

Doctors took her to intensive care, while her family were told that she might not make it through.

She said: ‘At one point I was minutes away from death.  

‘My family came in. It was heart-wrenching. I couldn’t breathe properly. It was just so scary.’

Miraculously she pulled through but after two months in Bournemouth Hospital she developed sepsis and had to be rushed to Southampton Hospital.

Doctors made the decision to put Sam in an induced coma and operated to remove the dead tissue and half of her pancreas.

A few days later Sam woke up with a drainage bag hanging out of her abdomen, connected to a feeding tube and found couldn’t walk.

Happier times: Ms Lewis and her three children enjoying a family trip to DisneyLand Paris before she became ill.

Ms Lewis must now eat a very limited diet in order to protect her pancreas from further damage

 In total, she spent six months in hospital while doctors helped her to gradually get back on her feet. 

She was finally discharged from hospital in August 2022, but has been left with chronic pancreatitis — where the pancreas becomes permanently damaged from inflammation.

It means she must now eat a very strict diet which means she has to sacrifice some of her favourite foods such as a fry up and pastries.

She has to stick to a low fat carb diet as food can flare up her condition and result in her needing further hospital treatment. 

 ‘It’s something I have to live with,’ said Ms Lewis. I used to love my food.

‘I used to love going out. Now I refrain from going anywhere in case I get a flare up.

‘I can’t even have crisps, chocolate, fish and chips. I can’t have fast food or pop to the bakery.’

It took her a year to get back walking properly and Ms Lewis still hasn’t been able to go back to work.

Bu she is hoping to ‘indulge’ as much as she can without compromising her health this Christmas. ‘I’m ready to really enjoy it,’ she said.