Teen undergoes leg and finger amputations after mistaking severe illness for the flu

University student Ketia Moponda acknowledged she's 'fortunate to be alive'

A 19-year-old university student confused a life-threatening illness with freshers' flu.

Ketia Moponda was just eight days into her marketing and advertising degree when she developed a mild cough in September of last year.

The teenager contacted her best friend and cousin throughout the following day, telling the latter she felt like she was 'going to die'.

However, when Moponda was unreachable the next morning, security staff at Leicester's De Montfort University, along with a fellow student, entered her room.

There, they found Moponda unconscious, and she was subsequently taken to Leicester's Royal Infirmary by ambulance.

"I have no memory of any of this but I'm fortunate to be alive," she said, nearly a year since her ordeal began.

Moponda, a resident of Wolverhampton, UK, was diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia, a severe form of blood poisoning.

This condition progressed to bacterial meningitis and eventually sepsis.

"By the time I reached the hospital, my blood oxygen level was at one percent. Blood was not circulating through my body, and my skin lacked color. My feet were green and swollen," the student recalled.

"My organs were failing, and doctors informed my family that if I regained consciousness, I would likely be brain dead."

This all occurred while she was in a coma.

When Moponda awoke two days later, she was unable to see or speak for a full week.

The skin on her fingers and feet shriveled due to reduced blood flow, and when she developed a flesh-eating infection on her buttocks, doctors had to graft skin from her thighs onto the area.

By January of this year, Moponda's fingers and thumbs were tragically amputated, along with both of her legs just below the knee.

"It was horrible. I couldn't stop crying. I felt so devastated, it was crushing my spirit," she said.

"I woke up from the surgery and just wept. I felt like my life had just started, and now I had to begin anew in a different way."

In May, she received prosthetic lower legs, but she is still awaiting prosthetic fingers.

Amazingly, the teenager has already managed to walk unaided and hopes to return to running at the gym when possible.

"They don't know how I contracted the illness - it's heartbreaking," Moponda continued.

"Initially, I thought about giving up on modeling, but I won't. You don't have to hide who you are. This doesn't make me any less of a person."

"I am unapologetically myself, and I want to help others feel confident about who they are and how they look."

"I'm very determined and plan to overcome all the barriers of disability."

Ketia Moponda is now eager to rekindle her modeling ambitions.