‘My symptoms were shrugged off - I found myself minutes away from death'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Mum-of-three Sam Lewis first felt the pains in her chest as she was getting her kids ready for the school run. She went to hospital, where she was given the diagnosis of an inflamed breastbone and sent home with painkillers.

As the pain persisted, she went back to the doctors - but claims her symptoms were "shrugged off" and put down to long Covid.

Days later, as the discomfort continued, the 38-year-old decided to go back to hospital - when a CT scan revealed she had a gallstone blocking her bile duct.

After being admitted to the hospital, her health declined and she was diagnosed with pancreatitis - the swelling of the pancreas - that quickly went from acute to necrotising, which is also known as ‘flesh-eating disease’. READ NEXT: 'I developed anorexia as a teenager after seeing the propaganda in men's health magazines' She described how, as her gallstone attacked her pancreas, she swelled up so much she looked like she was eight months pregnant.