42-year old Canadian-born Chrissy Brajcic has died from sepsis, following a four year battle with infections brought on by a vaginal mesh. Mesh implants are used to treat organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. They are often used post-childbirth, but the implants can shrink, twist, and cut through internal tissue, causing unbearable pain.
Brajcic was one such sufferer, having had her polypropylene mesh TVT (tension-free vaginal tape) fitted four years ago, after giving birth. The procedure (commonly prescribed in the UK to treat mild incontinence) caused nerve damage, leaving Brajcic in constant pain, and further complications followed. She had an operation to remove the device a year later, but ended up back in hospital with urinary tract infections, and she eventually became resistant to antibiotics.
In October she was readmitted to hospital suffering from sepsis, and it was from there that she posted videos documenting her struggle in the weeks before her death.
Brajcic had set up a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of mesh, which is used by countless women each year. Earlier this year The University of Oxford’s Professor Carl Heneghan, who specialises in evidence-based medicine, said some of the devices had not been clinically tested. He likened it to Thalidomide, which was used in the late 1950s and early 1960s to treat morning sickness and led to babies being born with a range of defects and deformities. Heneghan commented that ‘Unlike in the Thalidomide scandal, you are unable to see the extent of the women’s injuries’.
Women affected by mesh implant issues have reported organ erosion, nerve damage and loss of sexual function, with some unable to walk even.
In one of her final posts, Chrissy Brajcic wrote: ‘Funny how after going septic and almost dying now I’m getting respect and being treated well by doctors’.
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