Afaf Al Thufairi arrived in the UK from Kuwait and was first admitted to the Royal Free London Private Patients Unit in 2022, for gangrene on both hands and feet, developed as a result of acute Covid illness and prolonged intensive care. Gangrene is a serious condition where a loss of blood supply causes body tissue to die. If left untreated it can result in life threatening infection.

Afaf, mother of 7 children, was bed bound and seriously unwell when she first came to the Royal Free London Private Patients Unit, and was admitted under the care of Dr Peter Dupont, nephrology consultant, and Prof George Hamilton, vascular surgeon.

She was referred to Mr Dariush Nikkhah a renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon to manage her complex wounds and to save her left hand. The gangrene of her limbs required amputations of all her four limbs. Mr Nikkhah performed staged amputations of her lower limbs first below the knee and in a second operation he amputated the necrotic tissue from her right hand and a partial amputation of her left hand. Mr Nikkhah managed to save most of Afaf’s left hand in the second operation using carefully planned flap reconstruction. These operations not only saved Afaf’s life as she was suffering from infection due to gangrene but also saved part of her hand which helped in her rehabilitation.