OXFORD, Miss. — Just months after developing a mysterious illness, an Oxford woman who had to undergo multiple amputations has died.
On Tuesday, Preston Turner posted to Facebook confirming the news that his wife Bridgette Turner passed away.
“She fought so hard. I’ve never been so inspired,” he said in the post. “She touched so many. I’m proud to say she was my wife of 19 years. I love her so much and I will never stop loving her.”
WREG’s Jessica Gertler shared Bridgette’s brave story.
It all started back in June when the normally healthy mother turned to Facebook asking whether she should go the hospital when hives erupted on her body. Her friend Melissa Evans said soon after, Turner decided to go to a hospital in Oxford and then to one in Memphis.
“She started getting pain and discoloration of her limbs,” Evans said. “They weren’t sure what was going on.”
The pain and discoloration only got worse, and doctors say they couldn’t figure out why.
Turner was then transported to Vanderbilt.
“She’s undergone therapy similar to what a burn victim would undergo,” Evans said.
Turner received skin grafts and had to have both feet, her left hand and part of her right hand amputated. Her husband told us her blood vessels clotted and killed the tissue.
Doctors said out of the hundreds of tests, Turner only came back positive for one – Factor V Leiden. It’s a rare blood-clotting disorder. However, at the time of Gertler’s report doctors hadn’t diagnosed her with the disease yet and hadn’t said what caused it.
In August, Bridgette Turner sent us a statement saying she was overwhelmed with the amount of love and support she had received. Her husband echoed those sentiments on Tuesday.
“Please everyone know how thankful she and John Preston and I and everyone in the family are for the overwhelming outpouring of love and support. Everyone has been so kind.”