CROSSHILL woman Marguerite Henderson is looking forward to a good end to 2019 after a horrible eight month spell.

The 55 year-old contracted Sepsis through a paper cut and spent months in hospital after having her legs and left arm amputated to ensure that the poison that invaded her limbs could not spread to the rest of her body.

It meant a painful six months but thanks to fantastic backing from the community of Benarty, and the wider public of the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area, things are looking a lot brighter for the former family support worker with Fife Education Authority.

Thanks to unbelievable fundraising efforts over £70,000 has been raised for the Fund set up by Marguerite's family and through it she has been able to get a special wheelchair which gives her new freedom.

Although the chair struggles to manoeuvre into certain rooms in her current home, in St Ronans Gardens, an extension is being finished at her daughter's home nearby which will be able to take the chair comfortably and Marguerite is looking forward to getting back to some sort of normality.

She said: "The chair is a brilliant piece of equipment but it is difficult to get into rooms. However, the extension at Kimberley and Sean's home has been designed to cope with this and it will be completely user friendly for me, which is something I am really looking forward to.

"The thing is without the brilliant support from the public none of this would be possible and I again thank everyone for their efforts in helping me."

Her new home should be complete within a few weeks and when she moves in it will indeed by a key stage as she sets out to rebuild her life.

The Sepsis attack has left her unable to do a lot of things she took for granted.

Said Marguerite: "Not being able to pick things up, or fasten a button or zip is very frustrating but my new prosthetic legs will make a difference as these will fit better with my stumps now becoming less swollen.

"It should allow me to move about a bit easier and with the bathroom also being specially adapted things like having a shower will no longer be so difficult."

Keen on sewing and gardening, these are activities that have had to go on the back burner over the past eight months but Marguerite has managed to teach herself to sew, using her damaged right hand, and she hopes that her increased mobility will allow her to dabble in the garden once more.

"What were every day activities became impossible but I am hoping to start doing small things about the house and then do as much for myself as I can," she added.

"It has been really scary but the support from my friends and family, and the public at large, has kept me strong.

"I have regularly gone out for a Christmas break with ten friends at Blairgowrie but that at one stage looked impossible. However, now we have been able to find accessible accommodation in Lundin Links so it looks as I will be able to join them.

"Bit by bit I want to get back to normality, but again I have to say that without the support of my family, friends and the public I would have never reached this stage."