Latest news with #sepsis
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Surgeon who claimed on TV he lost legs to sepsis ‘actually caused own injuries & bought body mod vids from Eunuch Maker'
A SURGEON who claimed on TV he lost his legs to sepsis allegedly caused his own injuries after buying videos from the Eunuch Maker. Neil Hopper opened up about his so-called battle on This Morning - saying he developed the illness after a family camping trip. 5 5 The consultant vascular surgeon has now been charged with fraud after allegedly causing his injuries himself. Hopper is also accused of encouraging/ assisting in the commission of an indictable only offence (grievous bodily harm). He allegedly bought videos from extreme body modification site The EunuchMaker website that showed the removal of limbs. The 49-year-old is also accused of encouraging cannibalistic ringleader Marius Gustavson to remove body parts from other people. Gustavson, who had his own penis cut off, the tip of his nipple removed and his leg frozen so that it had to be amputated, was previously jailed for life. Devon and Cornwall Police said he has been remanded into custody to appear at Bodmin Magistrates' Court today. The fraud charge states he allegedly made a false representation to insurers - "namely the injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and were not self-inflicted, intending to make a gain". Speaking about his injuries previously, Hopper claimed he and his daughter fell unwell on the camping trip in 2019. He said his daughter recovered but he was taken to hospital where he was told he had sepsis. Hopper claimed he would have needed multiple operations and skin grafts to save his legs. He said there was no guarantee the surgeries would work and feared the skin grafts would impact his work. Hopper said: "I opted not to have hundreds and hundreds of operations but just to have one to sort it out." He also told how he kept focusing on the use of power tools during the amputation, which he found "icky". The dad, who carried out hundreds of amputation operations on others, was branded the "Bravest surgeon in Britain". Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals since March 2023. He had General Medical Council restrictions in place from April 2023 and has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has worked alongside police during the investigation. A spokesperson for the trust said: 'The charges do not relate to Mr Hopper's professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients. "Mr Hopper worked in at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, following his initial arrest. 'Former patients with any questions or concerns about their treatment can contact the Royal Cornwall Hospitals' Patient Experience team on 01872 25 2793, or email 5 5 5
The Sun
4 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
My partner saved my life with a kiss – he spotted sign of silent killer after our smooch
A MUM said she was saved from dying from suspected sepsis during childbirth by her partner spotting something was wrong as he kissed her. Kerri-Louise Gilchrist, 33, said Hugh Marshall, 35, noticed she was cold and her lips were blue. 3 3 3 The mum of two said he told medics at Worcester Hospital: 'That's a sign of sepsis.' Kerri was put on an IV drip before the birth of Layla last August. She later lost five pints of blood and required two transfusions. Kerri, from Great Malvern, Worcs, said: 'The nurses didn't notice anything until my partner said to them, you're not actually looking at your patient, her palms and lips are blue - that's a sign of sepsis. 'I'd been like that for a couple of hours at that point. 'Within two minutes of him saying that, I had 11 people in the room. 'You have somebody that's going to stand your ground for you. 'I was in no fit state to argue for myself, I couldn't care for myself. 'I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Hugh.' Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: 'We are sorry if Kerri is unhappy with the care she received.' The signs and symptoms of sepsis to look out for, according to The UK Sepsis Trust What are the symptoms of sepsis? SEPSIS is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that happens when your immune system overreacts and starts to damage your body's own tissues and organs. Symptoms of sepsis in an adult include: Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis Difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast Symptoms in a child include: Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis Difficulty breathing (you may notice grunting noises or their stomach sucking under their ribcage), breathlessness or breathing very fast A weak, high-pitched cry that's not like their normal cry Not responding like they normally do, or not interested in feeding or normal activities Being sleepier than normal or having difficulty waking They may not have all these symptoms. If you think you or someone else has symptoms of sepsis, call 999 or go to A&E. Source: NHS
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Kiss of life: Mother was saved from dying from sepsis during childbirth after partner noticed something wrong when they locked lips
A mother was saved from dying from sepsis during childbirth after her partner noticed that something was wrong when they locked lips. Kerri-Louise Gilchrist gave birth to her daughter Layla, now 11 months, on August 3 last year, under terrifying and life-threatening circumstances. The 33-year-old was induced after her boyfriend, Hugh Marshall, 35, noticed her cold temperature and blue lips while kissing her. Sensing that something was gravely wrong, he immediately alerted doctors to the signs of sepsis and Ms Gilchrist was given an IV drip of antibiotics. Layla was cut out through an episiotomy and eventually delivered successfully with a ventouse. But in the process, Ms Gilchrist lost 2885ml, more than five pints, of blood. Having sat with her feet in stilts for three hours as she waited doctors to remove her placenta, she ultimately required two blood transfusions to save her life. Ms Gilchrist, a carer from Great Malvern, Worcestershire, said that her partner instinctively 'knew there was something wrong' after the pair locked lips. The mother-of-two, who described having 'such an easy' birth with her eight-year-old son Teddy, said that Mr Marshall had not given her a 'proper kiss', but instead a deliberately disguised 'temperature check'. Ms Gilchrist, a carer from Great Malvern, Worcestershire, said that her partner Hugh Marshall (both pictured) instinctively 'knew there was something wrong' after the pair locked lips. The mother-of-two said that Mr Marshall had given her a kiss as a disguised 'temperature check' Recalling the terrifying ordeal, she said: 'The nurses didn't notice anything until my partner said to them, you're not actually looking at your patient, her palms and lips are blue - that's a sign of sepsis. 'I'd been like that for a couple of hours at that point. Within two minutes of him saying that, I had 11 people in the room. 'You have somebody that's going to stand your ground for you. I was in no fit state to argue for myself, I couldn't care for myself. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Hugh.' Sepsis, a life-threatening condition caused by the body's extreme response to infection, results in up to 48,000 deaths in the UK each year, according to the UK Sepsis Trust. A leading cause of death in the UK, its main symptoms include a fever, rapid heart rate and breathing, feelings of confusion and difficulty breathing. Ms Gilchrist said she first noticed her waters breaking on July 28, 2024 when she was only 36 weeks and five days into pregnancy. But despite ringing Worcestershire Royal Hospital with her concerns, she was told twice over three days that she'd 'probably just weed'. After calling the hospital for a third time on August 1, having began to experience reduced mobility, she was eventually admitted. Ms Gilchrist said: 'They did the swab, came back and said, your waters are going. I'd been telling them that since Monday. 'I was induced at 7am on Friday August 2 morning for what ended up being a 36-hour labour until 11pm on Saturday night. 'I was pumped with all sorts because I couldn't stand the pain, so I had an epidural. I'd give birth to my son again every day, it was so easy, but with Layla it was so, so painful.' Adding that medical professionals 'didn't pay any attention to me' and that she only survived due to her partner, a technology professional, noticing the signs, Ms Gilchrist recalled: 'They started the IV drip of antibiotics at 8pm on Friday. 'My daughter was still inside me and they said they wouldn't give me a caesarean because there was somebody else waiting. 'The IV really hurt and I said that to them, it really hurts, it shouldn't hurt. They didn't pay any attention to me. The state of my arm, the vein exploded and caused a blood clot, and it caused tendon damage to two fingers.' Ms Gilchrist was eventually given an episiotomy when Layla started to go into stress. She said: 'After they pulled Layla out, they left me in the stilts for three hours because they hadn't got my placenta. They left me bleeding out. 'They weren't measuring the blood I was losing and told me it was normal.' Describing her partner as 'the sweetest man ever', Ms Gilchrist said that the doctors eventually realised that 'they were killing me', Having lost five pints of blood and requiring two blood transfusions, she then spent four nights in hospital recovering. Later suffering with arm pain due to the blood clot damage, she was unable to hold her daughter 'for a couple of months' and also could not breastfeed due to the trauma blocking her milk supply. Adding that an anesthetist said Ms Gilchrist had been 'pounding on heaven's door', the mother-of-two said medical professionals were 'surprised I'm alive'. She added: 'Doctors put it down as a pre-terminal event, which is the stage before death. 'I'm a stubborn bugger. At some point in there they said, how are you awake? Let alone talking to us right now. I said, I will shut my eyes when I know that I'm going to live. Until that point, I'm not going to shut my eyes. 'There was a point where I don't know if I died, but through the door I saw my mum who'd passed in April 2024. Staying awake was sheer willpower. Whenever I closed my eyes I saw my eight-year-old son, Teddy, and I'd force myself to open my eyes.' What are the key symptoms of sepsis? Sepsis, known as the 'silent killer', strikes when an infection such as blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response in which the body attacks its own organs. In the UK, it affects 245,000 people each year, with 48,000 sepsis-related deaths, according to the UK Sepsis Trust. If caught early enough, it's easily treated with intravenous antibiotics and fluids, but these must be given as soon as sepsis is suspected - it strikes with frightening speed and, for every hour of delay, a patient's chance of dying increases 8 per cent. The six signs of something potentially deadly can be identified by the acronym 'SEPSIS': Slurred speech or confusion. Extreme shivering or muscle pain. Passing no urine in a day. Severe breathlessness. Skin that's mottled or discoloured. Source: NHS UK. Lalya, who spent two additional days in hospital with an IV drip in case the sepsis had passed to her, is now doing 'really well', with Ms Gilchrist describing her as 'totally brilliant' and 'so funny'. But she said that her life-threatening ordeal served as a terrifying reminder that birth can often come with its challenges, adding that 'sometimes it's life or death'. Issuing a stark warning for others to 'trust your gut', Ms Gilchrist added: 'I know my body and I knew something was wrong.' 'Layla's fine, she's good - the one blessing in this. She had to stay in hospital for two days with an IV drip just in case sepsis had passed to her. But she's great. Developmentally, she's doing well. She's totally brilliant, so funny. Justine Jeffery, Director of Midwifery for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said the trust were 'sorry if Ms Gilchrist is unhappy with the care she received from us.' She added: 'We are committed to providing the highest quality care for all the families we look after. 'Ms Gilchrist was closely monitored by our team. It became clear that she would need to have her placenta safely removed under anaesthetic and in sterile conditions and she was transferred to an operating theatre as soon as one was available. 'Her blood loss was also closely monitored and she received a blood transfusion while in theatre and another one subsequently. She remained well and stable following this and was subsequently transferred to our postnatal ward before going home the following day. 'One of our senior midwives talked to Ms Gilchrist about the concerns she had around aspects of her care following the birth of her baby, and we would welcome the opportunity to meet with her again if there are any new or unresolved issues she wants to talk through with us.'
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
My limbs were amputated because of a common infection that affects 15 million women each year
A British woman nearly died after contracting an infection that strikes at least 15 million American women annually, leaving her a quadruple amputee. Kim Smith is now a quadruple amputee, having lost both her hands at the wrists and her legs above the knee after a urinary tract infection went untreated for too long, morphing into life-threatening sepsis. UTIs are exceedingly common. Around 15 million American women get one every year and more than half of women and about 12 percent of men will experience at least one episode in their lifetime. Smith has had bladder issues for years, she said, and UTIs were not uncommon for her. They are the result of bacteria entering the urinary tract through the urethra and beginning to spread in the bladder. Poor hygiene, sexual activity, or even just the anatomy of the urinary tract can give bacteria an easy entry point. Once inside, these microbes attach to the bladder lining, triggering inflammation and the familiar symptoms, including a relentless urge to urinate, burning discomfort, and sometimes cloudy or bloody urine. Left unchecked, the infection can climb toward the kidneys, turning a mild to moderate pain into a serious health threat. Smith noticed pain in her lower back while on vacation with her husband. She suspected a UTI was coming, but tried to enjoy her vacation until she woke up one night in agonizing pain. At the hospital, Smith was placed in a medically-induced coma as a runaway immune response to a standard UTI spiraled into catastrophic damage. Smith and her husband had sought medical care in early 2018 before her body devolved into septic shock. According to Smith, they were turned away by the doctors but given a prescription for antibiotics that the local pharmacy was not able to fill. The following night, she awoke in pain and struggled to breathe. Her speech was slurred, and she was out of sorts. As inflammatory chemicals flood the bloodstream, they damage the delicate blood vessels in the lungs, causing fluid to leak into the air sacs, which causes a condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This drowns the lungs from within, stiffening them like waterlogged sponges. At the same time, plummeting blood pressure (septic shock) starves tissues of oxygen, while muscle weakness from acidosis and organ failure makes the physical act of breathing more difficult. Sepsis also plunges the brain into a state of chaos, causing confusion and speech difficulties. A storm of inflammatory chemicals can disrupt signaling between brain cells, while liver or kidney failure allows toxins like ammonia to build up, further clouding cognition. Even when oxygen reaches cells, toxins and mitochondrial dysfunction prevent them from using it. As tissues suffocate, organs fail in a domino effect, starting with the kidneys, then the lungs, which fill with fluid, and then the limbs, which can turn black from gangrene. Without immediate medical attention, widespread oxygen deprivation leads to irreversible damage. Nearly half of septic shock patients progress to multi-organ failure, where survival odds plummet. When Smith was airlifted back to the UK, her limbs had turned black from the lack of oxygenated blood, forcing doctors to amputate. 'How I survived, I do not know. It's a miracle, but I think it's so that I can warn you and save your life,' she said. More than one million patients are hospitalized for sepsis each year, surpassing even heart attack and stroke combined in hospitalization rates. Those with chronic illnesses, including cancer, kidney disease, or neurological disorders, face especially high risks. Between one in eight and one in four patients with sepsis will die during hospitalization. 'I'm here to warn you that if you've got any infection at all, don't think it won't happen to you because I was fit and healthy and it happened to me. And it could be you. Watch out for symptoms of sepsis,' Smith said.
CTV News
7 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
3 Polish doctors convicted in 2021 death of pregnant woman
WARSAW, Poland — Three Polish doctors were convicted for their roles in the 2021 death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman that sparked massive protests, Polish news agency PAP reported. The death from sepsis of the woman known as Iza at a hospital in southern Poland in her 22nd week of pregnancy led to huge street protests against the country's restrictive anti-abortion law. Activists blamed her death on doctors' choice to 'wait and see' rather than immediately carry out an abortion because of the Poland's near-ban on the procedure. Two of the doctors were sentenced to more than a year in prison without parole and the third received a two-year suspended sentence, PAP reported Thursday. They can appeal the decision. The charges, filed in 2022, were of exposing the patient to the danger of loss of life. Two of the doctors also were charged with unintentionally causing the patient's death. 'As a result of the team's activity and the failure to act, the patient has died,' Agnieszka Wichary, spokesperson for the prosecutors' office in Katowice, said in a statement at the time. Poland, a mostly Catholic country, passed a strict law in 1993 that banned abortions except when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, when the woman's life or health is at risk, or when the fetus had congenital deformities. But the Constitutional Tribunal, under the influence of Poland's conservative ruling party, ruled in 2020 that abortions for congenital defects were not constitutional, even if the fetus has no chance of survival. That sparked huge street protests. Activists said Iza was the first to die from the further tightening of the restrictive law. The woman left behind a husband and a daughter. In practice, activists say, many women have abortions on their own with pills obtained from abroad. The Associated Press
