'Around 50,000 people in the UK die from sepsis every year, with more than five lives lost every hour. It is a bigger killer than cancer.' | ✍️ Lauren Connelly
The nurse taking care of me commended Tony and said that, if I hadn’t come to hospital that night, I could have died Throughout March 2019, I had been pulling late nights to study for my exams and frantically finishing multiple assignments. I was in my first year of BSc Medical Sciences at the University of Central Lancashire – with a goal to embark on a career within the field of medical science and healthcare.
I woke my boyfriend, Tony, and he saw that my throat was infected – it was red, inflamed and there was white pus. He made me a hot drink, and agreed I’d call my out-of-hours GP in the morning. I managed to go back to sleep but, waking early, still in agony, I called 111 twice. An hour passed and I got much worse. I felt physically weak and was in so much pain, Tony rushed me to hospital.
I was taken into a bay in A&E following the assessment, where I received treatment immediately. Tony told me days later that I passed out in the wheelchair on the way to the bay because my blood pressure was so low. At this point I had begun vomiting regularly, which was so painful as my throat was still in agony.
By midday on Monday, I was admitted to a ward. The nurse taking care of me commended Tony and said that, if I hadn’t come to hospital that night, I could have died.