A brave young woman had to be brought back from the dead three times after her heart stopped when she caught a life threatening infection during cancer treatment.
Jessica Morgan Price was 19 when she was diagnosed with leukaemia and needed immediate treatment including chemotherapy and a line put directly into her chest to give her blood.
But the tube, known as a Hickman line, left her with a life-threatening condition and she had to be put on life support after suffering multiple organ failure, collapsed lungs and several other complications, Wales Online reports.
Doctors put Jessica, from Porthcawl, South Wales, in an induced coma and her family was prepared to say their goodbyes.
The now 21-year-old said: “I ended up in intensive care and I was put into an induced coma. My family were told I wasn’t going to make it through the first night due to how ill I was.
“My heart stopped three times but each time I came back. After my third death I started to get stronger.”
“It was very gradual. At first I could breathe on my own and later I could sit up. It all took time.”
Jess had to have physiotherapy for six weeks to regain her mobility and she stayed in hospital for almost a year.
While she was in recovery Jess kept her friends updated with pictures on social media and blog posts about her progress.
She said: “To get better I pushed myself to the point I couldn’t push myself any more.
“It helped having the support from followers online to keep me going and send their best wishes.”
She has now been in remission for a year.
Mortgage processor Jessica, now 21, said: “I believe that sometimes in life you have to go through hell to see the heaven just around the corner.”
Jessica went to the doctor in 2014 after weeks of feeling tired and run down.
But after undergoing blood tests she was shocked to be told she was suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and needed urgent treatment at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
She said: “The doctor asked me if I knew why I was at the hospital and I said I knew I was anaemic but he told me then that it was actually cancer.
“For weeks I had been feeling ill – completely exhausted with unexplained bruises and a lack of appetite.
“I thought I was going in for them to take a closer look at my blood but within a very short space of time I was being told I had leukaemia and being operated on.”
She is now settled with partner Jamie Perham, 26, after nearly a year together.
She said: “He is so supportive and helps me through the down days.
“We try and take each day as it comes and really make the most of them. I am getting stronger all the time.”
Jess and her mother Rebecca Price have also created a charity called “Jessica’s Dream.”
So far they have raised £7,000 to help others with leukaemia.
They have donated the money raised towards some of the charities and hospital wards that helped Jess to survive including: The Little Princess Trust, Clic Sargent and The Teenage Cancer Trust.