{"id":584376,"date":"2026-04-14T21:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/584376\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:20:13","slug":"after-a-teen-was-sent-home-from-the-hospital-with-stomach-bug-symptoms-she-ended-up-in-a-coma-fighting-for-her-life-a-month-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/584376\/","title":{"rendered":"After a Teen Was Sent Home from the Hospital with Stomach Bug Symptoms, She Ended Up in a Coma Fighting for Her Life a Month Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

A teenager in England was sent home from the hospital with what doctors initially thought were symptoms of a stomach bug symptoms<\/p>\n

However, a month later, she was put into an induced coma after collapsing in pain<\/p>\n

The teen went into septic shock after previously undiagnosed congenital scarring in her bowel led to complications<\/p>\n

A 13-year-old in England was told by doctors that she likely had a stomach bug, before she ended up in an induced coma as she fought for her life around a month later.<\/p>\n

Natalie-Anne Rowlett, 40, is speaking out about the dangers of sepsis, after her daughter, Felicity-Jo, was left in a coma for two weeks after previously undiagnosed congenital scarring in her bowel led to her going into septic shock, the BBC<\/a> reported on Tuesday, April 14.<\/p>\n

Rowlett told the outlet that Felicity-Jo, from the town of Nelson in Lancashire, U.K., was initially taken to the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital\u00a0in February after experiencing severe abdominal cramps and sickness. However, she was discharged the following day after medics initially thought she might have been suffering from gastroenteritis.<\/p>\n

\"Felicity-Jo<\/p>\n

Felicity-Jo Rowlett-Howes
Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n

According to the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>, \u201cgastroenteritis is inflammation that spreads from your stomach into your intestines, causing pain, vomiting and diarrhea,\u201d with the medical center stating that it tends to go away by itself most of the time.<\/p>\n

“They [gave] her some fluids to stop the dehydration and she seemed to like come around and seemed to feel better \u2014 the pain eased and then she took to small sips of water,\u201d Rowlett told the BBC, recalling that “the doctors said they thought it was gastroenteritis or a stomach bug going around. They had said they wanted to take her for a scan but they didn’t do it because she perked up.”<\/p>\n

In an email to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Rowlett adds, \u201cThe main symptoms were abdominal pain and persistent vomiting. It\u2019s frightening how quickly things progressed from what seemed like a typical upset stomach to a life-threatening situation.”<\/p>\n

\"Felicity-Jo<\/p>\n

Felicity-Jo Rowlett-Howes
Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n

Around a month later, on March 15, Felicity-Jo collapsed in pain and ended up being admitted to the ICU, per the BBC. Rowlett said that her daughter had eaten all her dinner the night before, but had later \u201cwoke up in pain and was rolling about on the floor and she was screaming. It was really really painful.”<\/p>\n

The teenager was taken to Burnley General Teaching Hospital, where she was told she\u2019d been born with congenital scar tissue in her bowel, which are known as adhesions, according to the BBC.<\/p>\n

Per the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>, \u201cabdominal adhesions are bands of scar tissue that form between abdominal tissues and organs. Like the name suggests, the tissue can cause your organs to \u2018adhere,\u2019 or stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Felicity-Jo<\/p>\n

Felicity-Jo Rowlett-Howes
Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n

The adhesions led to Felicity-Jo developing a bowel obstruction. This was eventually followed by an infection and sepsis, her mom told the BBC.<\/p>\n

After undergoing emergency surgery at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, Felicity-Jo was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.<\/p>\n

Rowlett wrote on GoFundMe<\/a> that \u201cseeing our vibrant girl in such a critical environment has been a parent\u2019s worst nightmare.\u201d She organized the fundraiser to raise money amid the ongoing costs associated with Felicity-Jo\u2019s hospitalization, per the campaign’s description.<\/p>\n

\"Felicity-Jo<\/p>\n

Felicity-Jo Rowlett-Howes
Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I was terrified,”\u00a0Rowlett told the BBC. “I didn’t take my eyes off her once in the ambulance. My first instinct was, ‘Is she going to die?’ I’ve never seen anything like it.”<\/p>\n

Felicity-Jo \u201chas already undergone two major surgical procedures on her bowel,\u201d according to the GoFundMe. She also had some of her bowel removed, per the BBC.<\/p>\n

The teen ended up being placed into an induced coma and kept on life support for two weeks, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n

\"Felicity-Jo<\/p>\n

Felicity-Jo Rowlett-Howes
Credit: GoFundMe<\/p>\n

After being fitted with a stoma bag and diagnosed with two blood clots four weeks after the health scare, Felicity-Jo finally took her first steps in almost a month.<\/p>\n

In an update on the GoFundMe, Rowlett shared that her daughter had \u201cmanaged a smile,\u201d which \u201cmelted\u201d their hearts, while confirming that she was being moved from the PICU to another ward in the hospital. She wrote, \u201cLeaving Intensive Care is a monumental milestone. It means she is getting stronger every day and moving closer to the ‘finish line’ where we can eventually bring her home to Nelson.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe still has a long road of recovery, stoma care, and rehabilitation ahead, but moving to the ward is a giant leap forward,\u201d Rowlett added.<\/p>\n

Rowlett also tells PEOPLE, “We are so relieved to finally be out of PICU; being on the ward feels like a huge step forward.” She shares, “I can happily confirm that Felicity-Jo has taken her first steps since coming out of her coma. It was an incredibly emotional milestone for us to witness after everything she\u2019s been through.”<\/p>\n

Rowlett is now urging others to be aware of the symptoms of sepsis, telling them to “trust their guts”\u00a0if something \u201cdoesn\u2019t feel right,\u201d the BBC reported. “I’m not a doctor but I felt it wasn’t right,” she said. “You know your own child. And I had wondered if there was something else wrong. We didn’t know about the scar tissue or the blockage.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Sepsis develops so quickly and I want others to be aware. I know she’ll come through. She’s a fighter,” Rowlett continued.<\/p>\n

The East Lancashire Hospitals [National Health Service] NHS Trust, which covers the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, didn\u2019t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW A teenager in England was sent home from the hospital with what doctors initially thought…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[255869,2596,97,255868,175750],"class_list":{"0":"post-584376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-felicity-jo","9":"tag-gofundme","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-induced-coma","12":"tag-stomach-bug"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}