'It's excruciating pain', Florida woman says epidural is still lodged in back days after giving birth

PENSACOLA , Fla. -- A routine medical procedure went horribly wrong, leaving a new mother in excruciating pain.

Selena Gray has had an epidural lodged in her back since June 25, WEAR-TV reports.

"It's excruciating pain," said Gray.

Gray went into labor at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. At 7.3 pounds, Serenity made her debut a day later on June 26.

But perhaps the most memorable moment in this new mother's life is now tainted by what happened after she gave birth.

"Basically, my epidural looped itself into my spine," said Gray. "It's in a knot in my spine and they've been trying to tug at it and tug at it and I haven't been able to get up or move or do anything."

Feeling helpless, Gray checked herself out of Sacred Heart Hospital and transferred to Baptist Hospital, a few miles away.

Doctors there were hesitant to even touch her.

"They just keep telling me, 'In all my years, I haven't seen anything like this.' So basically, they're just as shocked as I am," said Gray.

Now, Gray is heading to Gainesville to University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. It's a six-hour journey in the back of an ambulance.

Once she gets there, Gray isn't even sure what to expect. With numbness already in her legs, she said she is not thinking about the worst-case scenario: paralysis.

Gray says she's just focused on getting help and getting home to her new bundle of joy.

"She's so cute and just alert, she has her big, brown eyes open," said Gray. "She's the best, she really can just make you so happy and I just want to be home with her."

Doctors at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital were not available to respond to an interview request. Representatives at Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospitals declined to comment.