‘I have never felt so ill in my life – I can’t even describe it.’    Diagnosed with a seasonal virus in the autumn of 2022, 24 year old construction worker Devan H from Morecambe could never have expected the terrifying and dramatic decline in his health that was to follow. He takes up his story here.   Normally I’m really fit and healthy. I was working in construction in a manual job which involved long hours and heavy lifting. I am a regular at the local gym and try to keep fit and take care of myself, but around October 2022 I became ill with a flu-like virus. I don’t ..read more

Dee Thomas from Comrie, Perthshire is a mum to five and grandmother to two who runs her own business placing live-in staff in hotels and pubs.   Sepsis struck her out of the blue in April 2023. It is an experience that changed her life and her perspective and spurred her on to undertake a great challenge for Sepsis Research FEAT.  It all started on 3rd April 2023 when I suddenly developed flu symptoms and achy joints. I took myself to bed with paracetamol but, although I didn’t have a temperature, I sadly felt no better when I woke up the following morning. My husband Ian now ..read more

43 year old Tatton Spiller is the founder of an online organisation called Simple Politics. Its stated aim, he says, ‘Is just to help people have better conversations about politics and we sometimes manage to do that. ‘Between managing to keep up with the daily onslaught of news and debate, writing a couple of books and looking after my family (four kids aged between 15 and 8), I don’t have much time for anything else! That said, I do make time to watch Chelsea and get to the Spitfire ground to catch Kent playing cricket.’  Tatton has very generously shared his story of sepsis here.&nbs ..read more

For 35 year old mum of two Nicola McCaughan from Leicestershire, witnessing sepsis in her 12 week old daughter was shocking enough. She had no idea at the time that she would go through the same horrific experience herself just weeks later.  In the April after she was born my 12 week old daughter Neave developed a temperature and a rash and was just generally not herself. I rang 111 and spoke to a doctor over the phone who told me that it was likely to be viral. The next morning I was still concerned though so I rang my GP who sent me straight to A&E at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Th ..read more

“My dad was amazing – the best man and best friend I ever had. He had a great sense of humour, was loved by so many and was a massive Elvis fan. He loved his grandkids and his six children and kept our family going and inspired us all so much with his strength and love. He was our world and is sadly missed by us all.”   Lisa Parker of Ross on Wye shares the tragic story of losing her beloved dad Karl, 61, to sepsis in the autumn of 2023.  My name is Lisa Parker, and our devastating story of sepsis took place in September 2023, when we lost our beloved dad Karl – the glue of ou ..read more

Eight months before her wedding to Joss in the late autumn of 2023, 31 year old architect Michaela Major was living with the condition fybromyalgia but was otherwise well. She spent her time working in a small practice near her Lake District home, in her spare time enjoying walking with her then-fiancé in the beautiful area in which they live.  Michaela explains here what happened next.  In the middle of March 2023 I went to the doctor’s repeatedly as I had been suffering from a sore throat. I was unable to speak, couldn’t swallow at all and was struggling to breathe. On three occa ..read more

On the 31st of January 2024, the National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) updated its NG51 guideline for the UK originally published in 2016. It includes recommendations on recognition and early assessment, initial treatment, escalating care, finding the source of infection, early monitoring, information and support, and training and education. You can read the full report here Sepsis researcher and intensive care consultant at the University of Cambridge, Dr Andrew Conway Morris, comments, “Broadly these guidelines are to be welcomed, they help raise awareness of seps ..read more

‘The idea that it would never, could never, happen to you. Followed by the sudden shocking realisation that it was happening, that it was horribly, painfully real.’ 1  Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare. What follows is Sarah Menzies’ moving and honest account of losing her daughter Lauren to sepsis in December 2019 at the age of 13. She explains here what happened and her thoughts and feelings since.  I found that Lauren’s death brought with it much guilt for me.  Did I miss the signs? Could I have done more?  If I hadn’t been at the school fundraiser the n ..read more

Aiyla Mota from Hillingdon in west London was just three years old when she developed a strep A infection. What appeared initially to be a typical childhood sore throat was to go on to have life-changing consequences for Aiyla and her mum Eulanda. Eulanda tells Aiyla’s story here.  Aiyla’s illness kicked off innocently enough when she developed a sore throat on March 23. She quickly developed other symptoms though including a cough and tummy pain. She wasn’t passing any urine and she was unusually tired. Aiyla’s cough wasn’t major – and when I shone a light in her throat, I couldn’t see ..read more

As 2022 began, Will from Gloucestershire had absolutely no reason to think that just days later his previously fit and healthy life would be dramatically and bewilderingly disrupted by sepsis. In the ensuing ten weeks, the 35-year-old Digital Marketer would go on to suffer from multiple complications and to face a challenging road to recovery. Will takes up his story here. At home one Sunday in late January I started to feel unwell. I felt like I had maybe started to develop a cold or flu as I initially felt very lethargic and had mild chills. COVID was still quite rampant at the time, so I ..read more