A senior United Airlines flight attendant who has dedicated 25 years of her life to the Chicago-based carrier has had her cherished career upended after a horror E. coli infection left her fighting for her life in the hospital as doctors warned her family that she only had 12 hours to life.
Miraculously, Sara Dorman was able to pull through, but only after doctors were forced to amputate both of her legs and her right hand because the infection had caused so much damage to her extremities–doctors are yet to determine how much of her left hand can be saved.
As flagged by the popular flight attendant group, A Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge, Sara went from one minute from the glamorous world of globe-trotting as an international flight attendant to fighting for her life in an Illinois Emergency Room.
According to Sara’s family, she started to feel seriously unwell in late March 2025 and attended an ER in Libertyville, IL, where doctors quickly discovered she was in septic shock and suffering kidney failure.
The medical team had little option but to put Sara into an induced coma as they desperately tried to work out what was causing her body to shut down at an “alarming speed.”
Two days later, Sara’s family was summoned to the hospital and given the grim news that they would have to say their final goodbyes to their much-loved daughter, sister, and friend–the prognosis was that she only had 12 hours to live.
United in a vigil at her bedside, Sara’s family saw her pull through those dark hours, but she was far from out of the woods.
The doctors discovered that Sara had a severe E. coli infection that had led to Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. The infection was so bad that Sara’s doctors had no choice but to amputate both her legs above the knee and her right hand.
“Incredibly, Sara’s positivity and resilience have never wavered,” Sara’s family wrote in a GoFundMe page set up to pay for her ongoing medical treatment on the long road to recovery.
“She remains determined to face the challenges ahead with courage and grace. Her unyielding strength is an inspiration, and she believes—as we wholeheartedly do—that with love, support, and perseverance, she can embrace her ‘new normal’ and rebuild her life.”
So far, Sara’s GoFundMe page has raised over $146,000, but undoubtedly, more will be needed to help Sara make a full recovery.
Although the life that she once knew is now over, Sara is determined to write the next chapter. Sara’s GoFundMe page can be found here.
