:00:07. > :00:12.I'm Derek Brockway. If you've seen me on the TV before it's probably
:00:13. > :00:16.because I've told you about the weather or the best walks in Wales.
:00:17. > :00:20.But tonight I'm going on a very different kind of journey, a
:00:21. > :00:26.personal one, to find out about a condition which killed my dad. Well,
:00:27. > :00:32.to see him suffering like that, it was dreadful. I still miss him now.
:00:33. > :00:37.It's not the same, is it? No. Sepsis is taking and changing thousands of
:00:38. > :00:43.lives. People of all ages, across Wales. I meet some remarkable
:00:44. > :00:48.people, a mother who lost her teenage daughter. Anyone is at risk
:00:49. > :00:54.of sepsis. Anybody could fall to this silent killer. Doctors on the
:00:55. > :00:58.wards who tell me we could save more lives. If I was brought in with
:00:59. > :01:03.sepsis, what treatment would I get? A survivor determined not to let
:01:04. > :01:09.sepsis win. I want my life back. It was nearly taken away from me so
:01:10. > :01:13.suddenly. It has taken more than enough I think. And I discover the
:01:14. > :01:16.shocking scale of it. We could more than fill this stadium with the
:01:17. > :01:19.number of people that die from sepsis every year in the UK. It's
:01:20. > :01:37.too many. This is where I grew up, Barry, or
:01:38. > :01:43."Barrybados" as I call it. I love it down here. I used to come here when
:01:44. > :01:48.we were kids. Mum and dad would bring us here, bring a blanket, a
:01:49. > :01:53.picnic, build sandcastles on the beach. It was great. Great. Dad was
:01:54. > :01:59.a good dad. He was very much a family man. Loved his kids, there
:02:00. > :02:04.was three of us. Us. I'm the baby, the youngest. We didn't have much
:02:05. > :02:09.money in the 1970s but there was food on the table. My dad, Cliff,
:02:10. > :02:13.was a taker driver, a really hard working man. He looks really happy
:02:14. > :02:21.and well in these photos when he was younger. He was a good looking bloke
:02:22. > :02:26.as well. That's where I get it from! It's not the same any more though,
:02:27. > :02:32.dad's not here. It is nearly two years since dad passed away. Because
:02:33. > :02:38.of sepsis. I just thought, where did this come from? And what is sepsis?
:02:39. > :02:46.I had never heard of it. I know it's kind of related to more
:02:47. > :02:52.I had never heard of it. I know it's kind of related to to September
:02:53. > :02:58.seemia, but -- septicaemia. Dad had a number of illnesses, including
:02:59. > :03:04.dementia. While in hospital he developed sites. Instead of fighting
:03:05. > :03:08.it his immune system attacked his organs and he went into septic
:03:09. > :03:13.shock. The doctors and nurses did their best but it was really hard,
:03:14. > :03:20.when we had that phone call, we rushed to the hospital. I can
:03:21. > :03:27.remember saying to him that we loved him and I thanked him for being a
:03:28. > :03:37.good dad. And then the next day he died.
:03:38. > :03:45.As a family we are still trying to get used to life without dad. Dad.
:03:46. > :03:49.I'm going to see my mum Joan and sister Kathryn today for a catch-up.
:03:50. > :03:59.Hiya mum. Nice to see you again. And you. Come on, put the kettle on. I
:04:00. > :04:07.will. Hiya. How's it going. Alright. I'm just looking at some photos.
:04:08. > :04:12.There are some photos there now. He looks young there now. Yes.
:04:13. > :04:19.Obviously me and Kathryn miss him a lot, but you were married to dad for
:04:20. > :04:26.60 years? Yes, 60 years, but I still miss him now. It's not the same is
:04:27. > :04:32.it? No. It's not. All you've got really is your memories, what we
:04:33. > :04:40.used to do, where we used to go. You met so young didn't you? I was 16
:04:41. > :04:47.and he was 18. Love at first sight. It was. Dad was one of my biggest
:04:48. > :04:56.fans. I remember him taking me for my first interview, at the Met
:04:57. > :05:01.Office. So proud. Remember we had the copies of the weatherman
:05:02. > :05:06.walking? I said, you want to watch Derek, and the tears would come to
:05:07. > :05:11.his eyes. Like so many families, we didn't spot the signs of sepsis in
:05:12. > :05:17.dad. The nurses and doctors did their best, but it overwhelmed him.
:05:18. > :05:21.We weren't aware of sepsis at that point, so could there've been
:05:22. > :05:24.something done sooner, and would he have still been here? It is asking
:05:25. > :05:29.the right questions and knowing the signs to look for. Well, to see him
:05:30. > :05:39.suffering like that was dreadful. Dreadful. Derek, what's in store for
:05:40. > :05:44.us? The thermals will come in handy this weekend... A few weeks after
:05:45. > :05:49.dad died I went back to work and the routine of live broadcasting.
:05:50. > :05:53.This picture shows a lovely rainbow taking this afternoon by one of our
:05:54. > :05:56.weather watchers. I'm part of a small team of weather presenters at
:05:57. > :06:05.BBC Wales in Cardiff. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. Is that your
:06:06. > :06:10.lunch? Yes, it is. That is very healthy, as you can see, and Sue
:06:11. > :06:15.makes the best coffee in the BBC, if not the whole of Wales. It keeps me
:06:16. > :06:21.going through the day. Quite literally. I tweet weather forecasts
:06:22. > :06:27.and pictures all the time. One of the things I have noticed is that
:06:28. > :06:32.when I tweet about sepsis it gets a lot of hits. I get a lot of
:06:33. > :06:37.retweets, and we get some replies as well. Some of them are really
:06:38. > :06:42.harrowing, that they've lost their mum or dad, brother or sister, or
:06:43. > :06:49.even their little baby. It's so cruel. Quite miserable this
:06:50. > :06:55.afternoon, we have low level cloud and rain pushing in from the west...
:06:56. > :07:01.I'm heading the to Cynon Valley to meet a mother who is trying to cut
:07:02. > :07:08.the number of deaths from sepsis. I lost my dad, which was tough. She's
:07:09. > :07:19.lost her daughter, who was 17. I can't imagine how she must feel. It
:07:20. > :07:23.must be awful. As I arrive, I spot a tribute which had been left opposite
:07:24. > :07:28.the house, where Chloe Christopher lived with her mother, Michelle.
:07:29. > :07:36.People are still coming here even now, laying flowers. Chloe died of
:07:37. > :07:39.sepsis just two months before my dad. It was her birthday recently.
:07:40. > :08:00.Recently. She would have been 19. Hi Michelle. Lovely to meet you. You
:08:01. > :08:09.too. Come in. Thank you. So tell me about Chloe, what was she like?
:08:10. > :08:15.Chloe was 17. A typical teenage girl. Happy-go-lucky. She liked
:08:16. > :08:26.school. She was a good girl. She loved dancing. She loved fashion.
:08:27. > :08:34.She loved make-up. This photograph was taken about a fortnight before
:08:35. > :08:39.Chloe died. We'd been unwell, I would say a couple of weeks, a bit
:08:40. > :08:46.of a cough but nothing really to write home about. I was looking
:08:47. > :08:58.after her. Chloe's close friend was here. I came home, went upstairs and
:08:59. > :09:05.Chloe was across the landing. And she said, mum, I'm frightened, I
:09:06. > :09:11.don't feel very well. So I said, o we'll phone the emergency services.
:09:12. > :09:15.I started up, Chloe's colour just drained and so I said to the
:09:16. > :09:25.emergency services about the change in Chloe. Then I had to lie her down
:09:26. > :09:33.and to try to do CPR on her then. Chloe just went before us. I was
:09:34. > :09:47.trying to do CPR, on my daughter. It is just unreal.
:09:48. > :09:59.We had to wait five months then for Chloe's inquest to find out that she
:10:00. > :10:06.actually passed away with an E-coli ourine infection, which led to
:10:07. > :10:13.multiorgan failure, cardiac arrest and her passing. Of sepsis, and
:10:14. > :10:21.sepsis is on her certificate. But until five months later we hadn't
:10:22. > :10:26.heard of sepsis. I found it hard to comprehend how a healthy young girl
:10:27. > :10:34.could have succumbed to the same thing as my dad. There's times when
:10:35. > :10:45.I just close the blinds, close the door and I just close the world off.
:10:46. > :10:52.Sepsis affects around 25,000 children a year in the UK. Michelle
:10:53. > :11:01.is telling Chloe's story as a warning to others. I've actually
:11:02. > :11:08.gone round local pharmacies, GPs in there area, giving out some of the
:11:09. > :11:12.posters that are from the UK Sepsis Trust, again with some of the
:11:13. > :11:20.leaflets, so they are on display. We just need to get the word out there
:11:21. > :11:29.that anybody can, you or I, anybody could fall to this silent killer. In
:11:30. > :11:33.the UK alone, they reckon about 3,700 this December could possibly
:11:34. > :11:41.pass with sepsis, and Chloe was one of those statistics two years ago.
:11:42. > :11:51.If only question had known, maybe Chloe could still be here now. That
:11:52. > :11:59.was so heartbreaking and humbling. Michelle is a mum who's had her life
:12:00. > :12:04.ripped apart from sepsis, and somehow despite her grief, she is
:12:05. > :12:13.campaigning to raise awareness. She doesn't want any other parent to go
:12:14. > :12:17.through what she's going through. Today I'm going back to the
:12:18. > :12:22.University Hospital of Wales and Cardiff where dad died. Every time I
:12:23. > :12:30.drive past the hospital, I get a lump in my throat. It just brings it
:12:31. > :12:34.all back. I'm meeting intensive care consultant Dr Paul Morgan, who is
:12:35. > :12:39.leading the fight against sepsis. We have nine patients through the door
:12:40. > :12:46.and a further 11 patients down the far end of the unit in what we call
:12:47. > :12:49.our high dependency area, patients recovering from being critically
:12:50. > :12:55.ill. I want to know what causes sepsis and why patients like my dad
:12:56. > :12:57.develop it. Sepsis is part of the body's normal response to an
:12:58. > :13:02.infection. Your body's going to react to try to fight that
:13:03. > :13:07.infection. But in some people that reaction goes haywire and that
:13:08. > :13:12.results in things like your blood pressure falling and your body
:13:13. > :13:18.responds by heart rate going very fast, 19 to the dozen. You start to
:13:19. > :13:23.struckle with your breathing. Your blockade flow will be compromised
:13:24. > :13:27.and organs start failing. Sepsis is treatable with antibiotics and
:13:28. > :13:32.fluids. If the symptoms are spotted quickly. But the symptoms can be
:13:33. > :13:36.similar to other conditions. Typically what we see is the patient
:13:37. > :13:41.starts having problems like shivering. They might start to show
:13:42. > :13:47.signs such as slurring their speech or becoming more and more drowsy,
:13:48. > :13:51.confused. They might notice they are not passing as much urine as
:13:52. > :13:55.possible. They might report that they are feeling so terrible they
:13:56. > :14:02.thought they were going to die. In the emergency unit staff are worried
:14:03. > :14:08.that this patient may be showing signs of developing sepsis. You
:14:09. > :14:15.didn't sleep much last night? I couldn't breathe. Christina Cox has
:14:16. > :14:20.lung disease and heart problems. What we do is examine your chest OK?
:14:21. > :14:24.And from there we'll get some investigations so we can start
:14:25. > :14:31.looking to see where the infection is on your chest OK?
:14:32. > :14:38.Infection is localised where sepsis is affecting the rest of the body.
:14:39. > :14:42.You can have it from going systemic in a short period of time. Some can
:14:43. > :14:47.be aggressive in the way they spread. People can become ill very
:14:48. > :14:53.quickly. Blood tests will help to show whether the lung infection has
:14:54. > :14:56.turned to sepsis. The specially designed trolley means
:14:57. > :15:01.tests can be done quickly. Everything you should need is in
:15:02. > :15:07.here. The third one is for making up the antibiotics. Giving them in a
:15:08. > :15:14.timely fashion is critical. New research suggests that treatment
:15:15. > :15:18.can vary across Wales N a 24-hour snapshot of patients with signs of
:15:19. > :15:23.sepsis last year, only 12% were initially screened and treated in
:15:24. > :15:26.line with best practise. A second snapshot, due to be published next
:15:27. > :15:32.year, is expected to show an improvement. Could it be even
:15:33. > :15:36.better? If we can try and get that sort of system, to get that
:15:37. > :15:40.recognition from everywhere in health care, then our chances of
:15:41. > :15:48.picking up patients early and stopping them dying will be much
:15:49. > :15:52.greater. Staff have give given Mrs Cox antibiotics as a precaution. Did
:15:53. > :15:57.what they gave you help you a bit? Everything they have done has
:15:58. > :16:01.helped. That is good. OK. If it is sepsis, then they hope they have
:16:02. > :16:10.stopped it in its tracks. For now, they have to watch and wait.
:16:11. > :16:19.It is estimated that 150,000 people across the UK develop sepsis every
:16:20. > :16:32.year. 44,000 will die. So that is more than from breast,
:16:33. > :16:38.bowl, HGV road accidents combined. I was shocked to hear how many lives
:16:39. > :16:45.are affected bicep sis. To put that into context I come to a place my
:16:46. > :16:51.dad would have enjoyed. My dad was a fan of the Blue Birds. He used to
:16:52. > :17:02.bring me to watch them play back in the 1970s. Not at this stadium, but
:17:03. > :17:05.the old one. He loved it. You could more than fill this
:17:06. > :17:09.stadium with the number of people who die from sepsis every year in
:17:10. > :17:18.the UK. That is 44,000. It is too many.
:17:19. > :17:26.It was the hardest thing ever when we went into the hospital, you know,
:17:27. > :17:32.it was my dad, and really hard to think that that was it. Dad had gone
:17:33. > :17:43.for good. And it was sepsis that took him.
:17:44. > :17:53.Most patients who develop sepsis do survive. But it can leave them with
:17:54. > :17:57.life-changing consequences. My life before sepsis, I was very
:17:58. > :18:01.active. We just enjoyed like going to the beach. Just outdoor
:18:02. > :18:06.activities. Getting myself relatively fit. Jayne Carpenter from
:18:07. > :18:10.Merthyr is a nurse who enjoyed life to the full.
:18:11. > :18:14.But six months ago, everything changed.
:18:15. > :18:23.I wept to the GP out-of-hours with a cough. I walked into GP out-of-hours
:18:24. > :18:27.and then I woke up two-and-a-half months later, having nearly lost my
:18:28. > :18:32.life. Very nearly lost my life. But I did lose both my legs, my left arm
:18:33. > :18:36.and most of my fingers on the right-hand.
:18:37. > :18:40.Jayne didn't realise that back in May the cough she had was in fact
:18:41. > :18:44.pneumonia and she was developing sepsis.
:18:45. > :18:50.Even though I am a nurse, I know what sepsis is. I know all about it,
:18:51. > :18:55.but I didn't recognise the trigger factors or anything within myself.
:18:56. > :19:03.I hate being in a wheelchair... But the time Jayne went to hospital she
:19:04. > :19:08.was starting to go into multi-organ failure and ended up on
:19:09. > :19:14.life-support. For two-and-a-half months was in a coma.
:19:15. > :19:20.Just seeing the person that you love, you're with them one minute.
:19:21. > :19:25.Everything's basically fine. You go on about your life as usual and then
:19:26. > :19:31.the next minute, your life as you know it, all of a sudden, has
:19:32. > :19:36.stopped. And obviously my only thought is Jayne, is she going to
:19:37. > :19:41.survive? Is she going to make it? Jayne ended up having to have
:19:42. > :19:47.life-saving amputations. So part of the physio process
:19:48. > :19:52.obviously has been for getting independence. Learning how to put my
:19:53. > :19:56.own prosthetic arms and legs on without help.
:19:57. > :20:03.So, how did you feel when you woke up and you realised how ill you'd
:20:04. > :20:08.been and realised you'd had the am pew tigss -- amputations? No
:20:09. > :20:13.recollection of Vy a definitive moment when I realised I didn't have
:20:14. > :20:16.any limbs. I think most people, including myself, would think if you
:20:17. > :20:22.woke up and realised you didn't have any legs any more, that you would be
:20:23. > :20:29.frantic and panic-stricken? You would think so. One of the nurses
:20:30. > :20:33.said I repeatedly kept saying to her, "Where's my hand. Where's my
:20:34. > :20:39.hand." I cannot remember saying that. When I was told how ill I'd
:20:40. > :20:45.been that came second best to... It didn't seem as important as I could
:20:46. > :20:50.have died. Jayne spent three-and-a-half months
:20:51. > :20:53.in hospital and is still undergoing physiotherapy as she rebuilds her
:20:54. > :21:02.life. You are doing really, really well. Especially as you are an
:21:03. > :21:07.amputee. It is amazing. Jayne admits she struggles at time with how
:21:08. > :21:13.others see her. It is human nature, you look at somebody who is a little
:21:14. > :21:17.bit differentment some people go beyond the look. They follow you
:21:18. > :21:22.with eye contact and keep on looking. That made me feel I wanted
:21:23. > :21:26.to curl up inside. It was a huge challenge for me to go out to
:21:27. > :21:32.places. You feel like screaming, do you not know what you are doing to
:21:33. > :21:36.me? I have been married 18 years. I still had to ask my husband if he
:21:37. > :21:39.could cope with this. He said I married you, not for your arm or
:21:40. > :21:47.your leg. He's been fantastic. You know.
:21:48. > :21:53.It is difficult to cope, but the only way I look at it is, no matter
:21:54. > :21:58.how difficult is it for myself, it a east a lot more difficult for Jayne.
:21:59. > :22:04.So, I think to myself, what right have I got to complain when you
:22:05. > :22:10.know, Jayne has it far worse than what I have. For now Jayne's focus
:22:11. > :22:14.is on adapting to her new way of life.
:22:15. > :22:19.I can get to my cooker. I can put things in and out of the oven. I can
:22:20. > :22:27.get everywhere. I can get my dish water. I can do things.
:22:28. > :22:32.Until meeting Jayne and Rob I didn't fully understand the toil sepsis
:22:33. > :22:38.takes, not just on families like mine who lose loved ones, but on
:22:39. > :22:42.those who recover from it p. And there are financial implications
:22:43. > :22:44.too. Sepsis is said to cost the NHS over ?2 billion a year. In Wales it
:22:45. > :22:57.is costing ?125 million. Back in the emergency unit, and Mrs
:22:58. > :23:04.Cox's results are in. It is likely we have caught it at an early stage
:23:05. > :23:09.before sepsis is actually set in. At the moment it seems she's got a more
:23:10. > :23:15.localised infection, affecting her lungs. That is all good news for
:23:16. > :23:22.her. You live to see another day. Let's hope so.
:23:23. > :23:33.In a few days, Mrs Cox should be going home.
:23:34. > :23:37.In Wales, last year, more than 7,500 people were admitted to hospital
:23:38. > :23:43.with sepsis. And more than 1500 deaths were linked to it. Though the
:23:44. > :23:50.mortality rate in Wales is lower than in England, more lives could be
:23:51. > :23:54.saved. I spent half of my life walking
:23:55. > :24:02.these corridors, changing in and out of my suit. It keeps me fit, though.
:24:03. > :24:08.Today, I am going to meet the Health Health Secretary. Having seen what
:24:09. > :24:14.sepsis is doing, I want to know what he thinks the way the NHS in Wales
:24:15. > :24:15.dealing it. Why are signs spotted better in some hospitals than
:24:16. > :24:32.others? What needs to change? I don't mind admitting, I am a bit
:24:33. > :24:36.nervous. It is a first for me. I have never interviewed a politician
:24:37. > :24:42.before. Although I have been mistaken for his boss a few times.
:24:43. > :24:44.He's down there in the chamber at the moment. He'll be coming up in a
:24:45. > :24:59.minute to see me. Hello. How are you? Hello. Pleased
:25:00. > :25:02.to meet you. And you, too. Do you think that maybe all patients that
:25:03. > :25:06.show signs of sepsis should be screened and there should be a
:25:07. > :25:11.standardised system across Wales put into place to help save lives? We
:25:12. > :25:16.have a health improvement programme. We are the first country in the UK
:25:17. > :25:20.to have this early score system. It has been rolled out it is about how
:25:21. > :25:23.consistently is that being adhered to. It is not happening at the
:25:24. > :25:28.moment. You can go into one hospital and I could have signs of sepsis. I
:25:29. > :25:32.could go to another hospital and get a different treatment. That is the
:25:33. > :25:35.point about the consistency and recognising we are not where we need
:25:36. > :25:39.to be and want to be. If we level that out, of course we would end up
:25:40. > :25:44.saving more lives. I would not pretend that we are perfect where we
:25:45. > :25:48.are. Would you consider, as you are Health Secretary, and you've got the
:25:49. > :25:53.power, you could do it, to make screening mandatory across the board
:25:54. > :25:57.in hospitals? If a mandatory form would work, then I am minded to
:25:58. > :26:01.that, absolutely. What do we do now? What is successful? What do we do
:26:02. > :26:06.more of? I cannot look you in the eye and say I can make a choice
:26:07. > :26:09.within the next three weeks or months, that would mean pre-judging
:26:10. > :26:12.what advice I would get about what is the right thing to do for the
:26:13. > :26:16.service. Once you have looked at everything, you will make a decision
:26:17. > :26:25.on it? I will not run away from choices that need to be made to
:26:26. > :26:29.improve the service. I have learnt a lot making this
:26:30. > :26:33.programme. Now I understand why my dad died. I have met some remarkable
:26:34. > :26:37.people and can see why it's so important to keep fighting sepsis.
:26:38. > :26:43.Especially for those who have lost so much to it.
:26:44. > :26:49.Hello again, Michelle. Nice to see you... For Michelle, campaigning is
:26:50. > :26:53.a legacy to Chloe's memory. That is what we're here for, to try
:26:54. > :26:59.and spread the word. Get the word out. And try and save some lives.
:27:00. > :27:03.Jayne's life may be different now, but there was something she refused
:27:04. > :27:07.to let sepsis change. There were two things I remember
:27:08. > :27:11.doing. One was to complete my revaluation for nursing. I was
:27:12. > :27:15.desperately trying to complete that, which I did, in Intensive Care and
:27:16. > :27:22.the other was I wanted my make-up bag. Initially the nursing staff
:27:23. > :27:27.were doing it. Then obviously with time constraints of nurses, somebody
:27:28. > :27:33.else had to be taught and then Rob had the instructions of doing my
:27:34. > :27:39.make-up every morning. Was he a good make-up artist? He's fantastic.
:27:40. > :27:45.Better than me. He has not started wearing your shoes has he? Not to my
:27:46. > :27:49.knowledge. They do feel a bit stretched...
:27:50. > :27:51.Jayne and Rob are certainly not letting sepsis take any more from
:27:52. > :27:56.them. I see myself in the future, you
:27:57. > :28:02.know, back to walking the dog. Back to going on the beach. Back to work
:28:03. > :28:06.because I want my life back. It was nearly taken away from me so
:28:07. > :28:13.suddenly. It just makes me so, so proud. You
:28:14. > :28:15.know she'll get there. You know that she's going to, she's grabbed life
:28:16. > :28:20.with both hands. She wants it back.