Vicki Gunvalson told Access Hollywood that her daughter Briana got an infection after a dirty scalpel was used during her surgery

RHOC's Vicki Gunvalson Says Daughter Briana Culberson 'Almost Died' as a Result of Dirty Scalpel During Operation

Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson says her daughter was left fighting for her life post-surgery after a careless medical mistake was allegedly made.

Briana Culberson – who was diagnosed with Lupus late last year – got a serious infection after she was operated on with a dirty scalpel in Oklahoma, Gunvalson claimed during an appearance on Access Hollywood on Monday.

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“It almost killed my daughter,” the O.G. Housewife said.

“[The scalpel was infected] with feces from a previous surgery that day they put inside her body,” said the 55-year-old. “So, not good, she almost lost her leg. She almost died and all this stuff.”

Gunvalson said that with help from Los Angeles’ City of Hope, Culberson was treated with three weeks of “IV antibiotics and got all of it out of her body.”

Culberson has been “having really some struggles” since being diagnosed with the incurable autoimmune disease, Gunvalson revealed.

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“She found a doctor up here at UCLA that is giving her somewhat of a chemo treatment every four to six weeks,” she said. “And then the doctor just emailed her and said, ‘I’m moving to San Francisco.’ ”

Added the reality star, “So finding the proper medical care when you’re diagnosed with something like that has been a challenge for Briana. But she’s alive.”

All else seems well in Gunvalson’s world ahead of the season 12 RHOC premiere on Monday night.

After gushing about her boyfriend Steve Lodge, Gunvalson said, “We have a normal family now and everybody gets along, and it’s good.”

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“It was just God, truly,” she said of meeting her beau, who had never seen the show. “I wasn’t planning on dating again.”

According to Gunvalson, her boyfriend matched everything on her list of criteria: “Never seen the show, that was a Christian, that was a Republican, that was a family man. All the things that I wanted and he was all of them.”