CORSICANA, Texas — When Wyndi Adkins opted to go public, asking for help after life threw her one really bad curve, she was just hoping to get some of her independence back.
A year later, a bit of her faith in humanity has been restored, too.
We first met in March of 2023 at her home in Blooming Grove, Texas. She'd agreed to tell the story of the medical procedure and ensuing infection that cost her both of her hands and feet.
"It was October 2019 when I got sick," she said of the elective nerve decompression surgery she decided to get to help ease the pain of migraines.
But two weeks later during her recovery at home, an infection developed in a suture at the back of her neck.
"One of the sutures tested positive for strep," she said. "Entered my blood stream and went toxic."
Toxic shock syndrome led to sepsis. Doctors did save her life but the infection spread rapidly, limiting the blood flow to her hands and feet. She woke up after two weeks in a medically-induced coma.
"I woke up and this is what I see," she said scrolling through photos of her stay in the hospital. "They did all four amputations at once. And when I first came home from the hospital, I went through a really bad depression."
She decided to ask for help after her insurance would only offer prosthetics for her feet and a pair of mechanical hands that would only open and close in a simple grasping motion. But she hoped for so much more.
"I just want to feel normal again, you know I'm never going to be normal," she said through her tears. "But just having the ability to do things that everybody else can do."
Now a year later, I found her at an apartment complex in Corsicana.
"I'm just literally taking it day-by-day," she said. "I got sick and distance just happened," she said of the divorce she went through in the last year.
She now lives in apartment complex with her adult son.
"Got divorced. Moved. That was kind of a bummer," she said.
But with her dog Mazzie still by her side, something else happened too. The GoFundMe account that started one year ago topped out over $97,000 – enough to be fitted with two Ossur articulating prosthetic hands where she can learn to control each individual digit.
"Every penny made the difference," she said. "And people don't realize it was such a blessing, such a blessing. It's been such a crazy journey from when it all started."
A journey that has her learning how to handle her difficult life again, retraining her brain to make each finger move independently.
"I can do an OK sign and a finger point I promise I can," she said with a laugh while trying to demonstrate the movement of her new right hand.
And she promises that complete strangers have completely changed her life.
"It's just great." she said. "It's good to know that there's still good people and people care. And because people care, I'm able to live a little better in the world. And that's just a remarkable thing."
One more remarkable thing: His name is Colt. Wyndi is a grandma – a "Gigi" now.
"All I got to do is look at a picture of him, and it just makes it better," she said of the only months-old grandson.
Another reason, she believes, to hold onto the not-always-cruel life she's been given.
"Some of the things that I went through, I think, will break a human. And it did almost break me in the beginning. It showed me I am a fighter. I'm stronger than I knew," Adkins told WFAA.
Stronger because a pair of bionic hands have given her hope for her own future, while the gesture of complete strangers has given her hope for the rest of us too.
"It's exciting," she said while staring at her new hands. "And the public made it possible. And I will be forever thankful and blessed."
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