The wife of an X Factor star has revealed she suffered a complication after a miscarriage last month which saw her almost bleed to death.
Debbie King, who is married to G4 singer Jonathan Ansell had a miscarriage while on holiday with her family, and suffered a placenta percreta which led to excessive bleeding after doctors removed the feotus.
She had to undergo three rounds of emergency surgery just days after the miscarriage, when she was rushed to hospital with Jonathan and their two children.
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Debbie revealed she was “frightened” that she was going to die.
She told the Mirror: “I was frightened for my life. I had gone from desperate for a baby to just desperate to be alive. We were devastated about losing our baby but now I am just glad I didn’t die.”
She was 10 weeks pregnant when she flew to Lanzarote, and although she had noticed some bleeding already, a doctor reassured her she was fine.
Three days into their family holiday she was bleeding again and she went to get an ultrasound from a local doctor in the area.
She said: “The doctor scanned me and said that he could see a heartbeat, but it was very slow and the foetus wasn’t moving. He wanted me to go to the bigger hospital in the capital Arrecife.
“We got there and had a scan but unfortunately after a few minutes, the doctor said there was no heartbeat.
“Jonathan wanted me to have it when we were there, but I just had this awful feeling about having an operation away from home.
“Now in hindsight, thank goodness I didn’t do it there because it would have been so difficult and we would have ended up stuck out there without as much support.”
They remained on the Spanish island for another 10 days, silently heartbroken at what had happened.
She admitted: “I put on a brave face. We hadn’t told anyone about the pregnancy. It was really hard and there were moments when I was very sad but I didn’t want to spoil the holiday for the kids.
“I spoke to my gynecologist back in the UK who said it was safe to wait until I got home.”
Back in Leeds Debbie went to a private hospital to undergo surgery, which was supposed to be a quick procedure but ended up taking two hours as she bled uncontrollably.
About the miscarriage she said: “I was ok about it. I was upset but I had two beautiful children and I had desperately wanted another baby but I thought we could try again.”
To try to stem the flow of blood doctors filled a Rusch balloon inside her, which presses against the blood vessels in the uterus.
Debbie recalled: “They left it in for four hours but when they tried to take it out, I just starting bleeding a lot. I could feel the blood pouring out of me and my blood pressure was dropping massively.”
The bleeding wouldn’t stop and a few hours later doctors transferred her to St James’s Hospital in Leeds, where doctors tried for three hours to save her.
She revealed: “Jonathan had gone out for a walk and as he was coming back in, he saw the nurses running out saying, ‘We’re moving her. Where is the husband?’ as they wheeled me into an ambulance.
“They told him they were taking me to St James’s Hospital and they would meet him there. He got there in about 20 minutes, but it took the ambulance over an hour because they couldn’t control the bleeding and get me stabilised.
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“Jonathan was waiting outside and the nurse just kept coming in and out to get more blood. Essentially, every drop of blood in my body was replaced.”
After the traumatic experience she ended up in coma for two days and she remembers it well.
She said: “I was in a coma but, though I couldn’t move or speak, I knew what was going on. The doctors told me it can happen but it’s quite rare.
“It was the most frightening moment of my life because I didn’t know if I was ever going to come out of it. I just wanted to speak but I couldn’t.”
Doctors eventually discovered that she had placenta percreta where the placenta had attached itself to the C-section scar that remained from her first pregnancy, and it had grown into the gap between her uterus and bladder.
“They told me it is so rare and none of the doctors had ever treated anything like this before. I have been told that I will become a case for medical journals and textbooks. My consultant is trying to change the way ultrasounds are done to make medical staff more aware of the condition,” she said.
“I felt lucky to be alive but was petrified about the surgery I was still facing.”
Shockingly she had to go through another surgery to remove the placenta and if she started bleeding again she could have died, but luckily doctors saved her and she is now on the mend.
She is so thankful for her life and to the medical staff that looked after her, as she said: “They are hopeful that there won’t be any lasting impact. They still don’t know for sure if my bladder will go back to normal but I am reasonably young, fit and healthy and we hope it will.
“I have missed weeks of my kids’ lives – things like seeing them go back to school. I know they are fine and are being cared for but I just want to be their mum and go home to them. I can’t wait to enjoy tiny little things like reading a bedtime stories to my kids.
“Throughout everything, Jonathan has been incredible. He hasn’t left my side, other than to sleep. He was meant to go on tour in Ireland but he postponed the shows for the first time ever because he was scared about what was happening. He is starting the UK leg this Friday and the Irish leg will happen next year.
“But I can’t thank the staff who looked after me enough, especially the surgeons who literally saved my life. I want to do something for the NHS when I am fit and well because they are so undervalued but so kind, knowledgeable and caring.”
Her husband Jonathan found fame after coming second on The X Factor back in 2004.