Woman Undergoes Quadruple Amputation After a Lick from Her Dog Leads to Sepsis: ‘It Could Happen to Anybody’

NEED TO KNOW

• Manjit Sangha developed sepsis after her dog licked a small cut, leading to a quadruple amputation

• She spent 32 weeks in the hospital, surviving several cardiac arrests and severe complications

• Her family launched a GoFundMe to support her recovery, including advanced prosthetics and physical therapy

A woman underwent a quadruple amputation after developing sepsis, which doctors believe was the result of being licked by her dog.

On a Sunday evening in July 2025, Manjit Sangha — a 56-year-old from Birmingham, England — had returned home from work and wasn’t feeling well. The following day, her husband Kam Sangha found her unconscious on the couch. Her lips were blue and her hands and feet were ice cold.

Kam, 60, immediately called an ambulance and Manjit was rushed to the hospital.

“Your mind is all over the place,” husband Kam Sangha told BBC. “You’re thinking, ‘How can this happen in less than 24 hours?’ One minute on a Saturday, she’s playing with the dog, Sunday she’s gone to work, Monday night she’s in a coma.”

Manjit was admitted to the intensive care unit at New Cross Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. While hospitalized, she went into cardiac arrest six times and medical staff wasn’t sure if she’d survive.

“She’s so strong,” Kam told the outlet. “Every day was like, ‘She’s going to go today,’ but she proved us wrong.”

Doctors determined the former pharmacy worker had sepsis, which they said might have been caused by a lick from her dog on a small cut or scratch.

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Sepsis is “a serious condition in which the body responds improperly to an infection,” according to the Mayo Clinic. It can lead to septic shock, which is a dramatic drop in blood pressure that can damage the lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs. When the damage is severe, it can lead to death.

Manjit later suffered from disseminated intravascular coagulation, a rare and dangerous complication of sepsis that causes abnormal blood clotting throughout the body, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“Her chances of survival were slim,” her family said in a GoFundMe post. “We were told she had only days to live, and if she did survive, she might face multiple amputations.”

And as Manjit’s condition worsened, surgeons had to amputate both of her legs below the knee, as well as both of her hands, in order to save her life. She also had her spleen removed after developing pneumonia and gallstones.

After 32 weeks in the hospital, Manjit’s health improved significantly and she is now back home.

Her loved ones have created a GoFundMe in hopes of raising enough money for advanced prosthetics — which could potentially include robotic hands — physical therapy, mental health support and home adaptations to make her living space more accessible.

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“Understandably, Manjit is devastated. She is mourning the life she had before—where simple tasks like picking up a glass of water were effortless,” her family wrote. “We are committed to helping Manjit rebuild her life.”

“She’s the strongest person I know. Every time I thought I’d lost her, she came back fighting. Now it’s our turn to fight for her,” Kam added.

Although she knows there is a long road to recovery ahead, Manjit told BBC that she’s determined to get her life back.

“I want to get walking,” she said. “I want to get my prosthetics to go back to work. I’ve sat down in my chair and my bed enough. It’s time to walk now.”

Manjit is also hoping that sharing her story will prevent others from going through a similar situation.

“It could happen to anybody,” she warned. “It’s difficult to explain the experience. Losing your limbs and your hands in a short time period is a very big thing. It’s very serious and not to be taken lightly.”

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