I am an eleven-year leukaemia survivor with an important story to tell connected to surviving sepsis. In 2022 I self-published my story ‘LIFE BLOOD: Lessons from one woman who survived serious illness against the odds’, available as a paperback, hardcover and e-book across all book retailers globally. My moving, unflinchingly honest and often humorous recollections […]
On Sunday the 4th of September 2022, after an induced labour, I gave birth to my daughter with forceps assistance and having an episiotomy to minimise tearing. Around 4 hours after the birth I began having increasingly intense pain which the doctor diagnosed as internal bleeding and told me I would have to go in […]
Four years ago, Mick O’Dowd thought he would never be able to do much again. In the aftermath of a devastating illness (sepsis) he could only hope to have the kind of freedom most people take for granted. It was 2018 and the whole family was there for a hectic, noisy, happy Christmas Day. While […]
Matthew Ames was 39 years old when what started as a sore throat resulted in the loss of all four of his limbs. He had contracted streptococcal resulting in toxic shock and was never expected to survive. Matthew has beaten the odds, spurred on by the fact that he is the father of four young […]
Late in 2012 I suffered a life threatening illness that lead to nine days on life support, almost eight months in hospital and multiple surgeries including the amputation of both legs below the knee, my right hand and all of the fingers off my left hand. But I survived and I saw a choice between […]
Michael Sutton is an electrical supervisor left devastated by the death of his wife, Sharon, from sepsis in February 2014. She first visited a GP with symptoms attributed to gastroenteritis. She did not recover, however, and was admitted to hospital. After several weeks she deteriorated to the point that she was moved to another hospital. […]
Sepsis is treatable if caught early. It can occur as a result of any infection, so it is important to be aware of sepsis symptoms. It may not be a single symptom but a combination of changes in the following symptoms and feeling worse than usual, when generally unwell with no obvious reason:
In the early hours of 12 July 2015, I was settling my daughter after she’d woken. As I left her room I banged my elbow quite hard but gave it a rub and went back to bed. An hour or so later I awoke to golf ball size swelling on my elbow and extreme pain. […]
At 23, after a quiet Saturday night dinner with a friend, following a ‘common cold’, I thought I had bitten my tongue. Tired, I lay on my bed, icing my tongue. Less than an hour later, my tongue had swelled, started to block my airway and left me speechless. We suspected anaphylaxis and my Aunt […]
