Woman says she was intubated and put on life support because she developed an infection causing extreme swelling and doctors worried that her airways could close after her dog accidentally hit her

The 41-year-old enthusiastic dog lover says she ended up on life support because she developed an infection causing extreme swelling and doctors worried that her airways could close after her dog accidentally hit her while playing. The medical personnel reportedly decided to put the woman to sleep on life support with a breathing tube for one week as they drained the infection out of her neck. “Doctors removed two of my teeth and put a drain in my neck to drain out the infection. They left me on life support to make sure there were no secondary infections but I did develop a second one which was drained and finally resolved the problem.” the unfortunate woman said.

The 41-year-old dog lover from Illinois, Erin Stevenson, reportedly told Kennedy News and Media that she had been watching her dog Skyy playing in the garden when the dog hurtled towards her and accidentally headbutted her in the chin.

Unfortunately, Stevenson said she had a sore throat the next day and planned to see a doctor. She reportedly woke up with a swollen neck and was unable to swallow. Stevenson then went to the hospital where doctors discovered that two of her molars had been cracked by the impact and she’d developed an infection.

The medical personnel reportedly worried that her airways could close, so they decided to put her on life support with a breathing tube for 1 week. In the meantime, the doctors drained the infection out of her neck.

Now, few months after the incident, the 41-year-old woman told New York Post that she is still not able to open her mouth up fully.

The enthusiastic dog lover reportedly said: “Skyy’s done plenty in her day but nothing quite like this. She’s trouble and she keeps us all on our toes. She loves being around people. She just doesn’t know how to control her excitement. She runs and jumps and gets herself into all sorts of trouble. I wouldn’t change her.

She was running around doing zoomies back and forth in the yard. She came towards me and I didn’t think anything of it so I leant forward and she jumped and headbutted me straight under the jaw. It hurt but I didn’t think much of it, I just thought it was from the impact. Two days later, my throat started to hurt. I thought it was strep throat. I was planning on going to see a doctor but I woke up at around 3am and I couldn’t swallow.

I woke my husband and said I was going to the emergency room to get antibiotics for strep throat. There was significant swelling on one side of my face. I had a CT scan, antibiotics and steroids. They didn’t know what it was. They thought maybe it was a haematoma or a broken jaw. They were worried that if the swelling didn’t go down then my airways would close. I was put to sleep and a tube inserted to breathe for me.

I text my husband saying he might want to go down to the hospital and I might not be awake when he got there. I told him to tell my family I love them. It was worse for him than for me. I was intubated and put on life support. Unbeknown to me, Skyy had cracked two of my molars and I’d developed an abscess which had caused the swelling. 

Doctors removed two of my teeth and put a drain in my neck to drain out the infection. They left me on life support to make sure there were no secondary infections but I did develop a second one which was drained and finally resolved the problem. Skyy had no idea the trouble she’d caused but my husband did say she knew something was going on. The one lingering injury I have is that now I can only open my mouth to a certain point which is a bit of a nightmare.”

But, the proud dog lover told New York Post that she can’t stay mad at 5-year-old Skyy, despite the fact the dog is constantly causing trouble.