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Sepsis: Understanding Why Dad Died

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Transcript


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I'm Derek Brockway. If you've seen me on the TV before it's probably

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because I've told you about the weather or the best walks in Wales.

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But tonight I'm going on a very different kind of journey, a

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personal one, to find out about a condition which killed my dad. Well,

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to see him suffering like that, it was dreadful. I still miss him now.

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It's not the same, is it? No. Sepsis is taking and changing thousands of

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lives. People of all ages, across Wales. I meet some remarkable

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people, a mother who lost her teenage daughter. Anyone is at risk

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of sepsis. Anybody could fall to this silent killer. Doctors on the

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wards who tell me we could save more lives. If I was brought in with

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sepsis, what treatment would I get? A survivor determined not to let

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sepsis win. I want my life back. It was nearly taken away from me so

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suddenly. It has taken more than enough I think. And I discover the

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shocking scale of it. We could more than fill this stadium with the

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number of people that die from sepsis every year in the UK. It's

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too many. This is where I grew up, Barry, or

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"Barrybados" as I call it. I love it down here. I used to come here when

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we were kids. Mum and dad would bring us here, bring a blanket, a

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picnic, build sandcastles on the beach. It was great. Great. Dad was

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a good dad. He was very much a family man. Loved his kids, there

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was three of us. Us. I'm the baby, the youngest. We didn't have much

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money in the 1970s but there was food on the table. My dad, Cliff,

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was a taker driver, a really hard working man. He looks really happy

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and well in these photos when he was younger. He was a good looking bloke

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as well. That's where I get it from! It's not the same any more though,

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dad's not here. It is nearly two years since dad passed away. Because

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of sepsis. I just thought, where did this come from? And what is sepsis?

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I had never heard of it. I know it's kind of related to more

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I had never heard of it. I know it's kind of related to to September

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seemia, but -- septicaemia. Dad had a number of illnesses, including

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dementia. While in hospital he developed sites. Instead of fighting

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it his immune system attacked his organs and he went into septic

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shock. The doctors and nurses did their best but it was really hard,

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when we had that phone call, we rushed to the hospital. I can

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remember saying to him that we loved him and I thanked him for being a

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good dad. And then the next day he died.

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As a family we are still trying to get used to life without dad. Dad.

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I'm going to see my mum Joan and sister Kathryn today for a catch-up.

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Hiya mum. Nice to see you again. And you. Come on, put the kettle on. I

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will. Hiya. How's it going. Alright. I'm just looking at some photos.

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There are some photos there now. He looks young there now. Yes.

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Obviously me and Kathryn miss him a lot, but you were married to dad for

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60 years? Yes, 60 years, but I still miss him now. It's not the same is

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it? No. It's not. All you've got really is your memories, what we

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used to do, where we used to go. You met so young didn't you? I was 16

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and he was 18. Love at first sight. It was. Dad was one of my biggest

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fans. I remember him taking me for my first interview, at the Met

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Office. So proud. Remember we had the copies of the weatherman

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walking? I said, you want to watch Derek, and the tears would come to

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his eyes. Like so many families, we didn't spot the signs of sepsis in

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dad. The nurses and doctors did their best, but it overwhelmed him.

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We weren't aware of sepsis at that point, so could there've been

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something done sooner, and would he have still been here? It is asking

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the right questions and knowing the signs to look for. Well, to see him

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suffering like that was dreadful. Dreadful. Derek, what's in store for

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us? The thermals will come in handy this weekend... A few weeks after

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dad died I went back to work and the routine of live broadcasting.

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This picture shows a lovely rainbow taking this afternoon by one of our

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weather watchers. I'm part of a small team of weather presenters at

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BBC Wales in Cardiff. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. Is that your

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lunch? Yes, it is. That is very healthy, as you can see, and Sue

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makes the best coffee in the BBC, if not the whole of Wales. It keeps me

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going through the day. Quite literally. I tweet weather forecasts

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and pictures all the time. One of the things I have noticed is that

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when I tweet about sepsis it gets a lot of hits. I get a lot of

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retweets, and we get some replies as well. Some of them are really

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harrowing, that they've lost their mum or dad, brother or sister, or

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even their little baby. It's so cruel. Quite miserable this

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afternoon, we have low level cloud and rain pushing in from the west...

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I'm heading the to Cynon Valley to meet a mother who is trying to cut

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the number of deaths from sepsis. I lost my dad, which was tough. She's

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lost her daughter, who was 17. I can't imagine how she must feel. It

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must be awful. As I arrive, I spot a tribute which had been left opposite

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the house, where Chloe Christopher lived with her mother, Michelle.

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People are still coming here even now, laying flowers. Chloe died of

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sepsis just two months before my dad. It was her birthday recently.

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Recently. She would have been 19. Hi Michelle. Lovely to meet you. You

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too. Come in. Thank you. So tell me about Chloe, what was she like?

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Chloe was 17. A typical teenage girl. Happy-go-lucky. She liked

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school. She was a good girl. She loved dancing. She loved fashion.

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She loved make-up. This photograph was taken about a fortnight before

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Chloe died. We'd been unwell, I would say a couple of weeks, a bit

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of a cough but nothing really to write home about. I was looking

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after her. Chloe's close friend was here. I came home, went upstairs and

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Chloe was across the landing. And she said, mum, I'm frightened, I

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don't feel very well. So I said, o we'll phone the emergency services.

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I started up, Chloe's colour just drained and so I said to the

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emergency services about the change in Chloe. Then I had to lie her down

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and to try to do CPR on her then. Chloe just went before us. I was

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trying to do CPR, on my daughter. It is just unreal.

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We had to wait five months then for Chloe's inquest to find out that she

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actually passed away with an E-coli ourine infection, which led to

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multiorgan failure, cardiac arrest and her passing. Of sepsis, and

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sepsis is on her certificate. But until five months later we hadn't

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heard of sepsis. I found it hard to comprehend how a healthy young girl

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could have succumbed to the same thing as my dad. There's times when

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I just close the blinds, close the door and I just close the world off.

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Sepsis affects around 25,000 children a year in the UK. Michelle

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is telling Chloe's story as a warning to others. I've actually

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gone round local pharmacies, GPs in there area, giving out some of the

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posters that are from the UK Sepsis Trust, again with some of the

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leaflets, so they are on display. We just need to get the word out there

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that anybody can, you or I, anybody could fall to this silent killer. In

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the UK alone, they reckon about 3,700 this December could possibly

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pass with sepsis, and Chloe was one of those statistics two years ago.

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If only question had known, maybe Chloe could still be here now. That

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was so heartbreaking and humbling. Michelle is a mum who's had her life

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ripped apart from sepsis, and somehow despite her grief, she is

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campaigning to raise awareness. She doesn't want any other parent to go

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through what she's going through. Today I'm going back to the

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University Hospital of Wales and Cardiff where dad died. Every time I

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drive past the hospital, I get a lump in my throat. It just brings it

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all back. I'm meeting intensive care consultant Dr Paul Morgan, who is

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leading the fight against sepsis. We have nine patients through the door

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and a further 11 patients down the far end of the unit in what we call

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our high dependency area, patients recovering from being critically

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ill. I want to know what causes sepsis and why patients like my dad

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develop it. Sepsis is part of the body's normal response to an

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infection. Your body's going to react to try to fight that

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infection. But in some people that reaction goes haywire and that

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results in things like your blood pressure falling and your body

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responds by heart rate going very fast, 19 to the dozen. You start to

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struckle with your breathing. Your blockade flow will be compromised

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and organs start failing. Sepsis is treatable with antibiotics and

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fluids. If the symptoms are spotted quickly. But the symptoms can be

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similar to other conditions. Typically what we see is the patient

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starts having problems like shivering. They might start to show

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signs such as slurring their speech or becoming more and more drowsy,

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confused. They might notice they are not passing as much urine as

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possible. They might report that they are feeling so terrible they

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thought they were going to die. In the emergency unit staff are worried

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that this patient may be showing signs of developing sepsis. You

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didn't sleep much last night? I couldn't breathe. Christina Cox has

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lung disease and heart problems. What we do is examine your chest OK?

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And from there we'll get some investigations so we can start

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looking to see where the infection is on your chest OK?

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Infection is localised where sepsis is affecting the rest of the body.

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You can have it from going systemic in a short period of time. Some can

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be aggressive in the way they spread. People can become ill very

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quickly. Blood tests will help to show whether the lung infection has

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turned to sepsis. The specially designed trolley means

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tests can be done quickly. Everything you should need is in

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here. The third one is for making up the antibiotics. Giving them in a

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timely fashion is critical. New research suggests that treatment

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can vary across Wales N a 24-hour snapshot of patients with signs of

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sepsis last year, only 12% were initially screened and treated in

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line with best practise. A second snapshot, due to be published next

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year, is expected to show an improvement. Could it be even

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better? If we can try and get that sort of system, to get that

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recognition from everywhere in health care, then our chances of

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picking up patients early and stopping them dying will be much

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greater. Staff have give given Mrs Cox antibiotics as a precaution. Did

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what they gave you help you a bit? Everything they have done has

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helped. That is good. OK. If it is sepsis, then they hope they have

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stopped it in its tracks. For now, they have to watch and wait.

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It is estimated that 150,000 people across the UK develop sepsis every

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year. 44,000 will die. So that is more than from breast,

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bowl, HGV road accidents combined. I was shocked to hear how many lives

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are affected bicep sis. To put that into context I come to a place my

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dad would have enjoyed. My dad was a fan of the Blue Birds. He used to

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bring me to watch them play back in the 1970s. Not at this stadium, but

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the old one. He loved it. You could more than fill this

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stadium with the number of people who die from sepsis every year in

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the UK. That is 44,000. It is too many.

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It was the hardest thing ever when we went into the hospital, you know,

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it was my dad, and really hard to think that that was it. Dad had gone

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for good. And it was sepsis that took him.

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Most patients who develop sepsis do survive. But it can leave them with

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life-changing consequences. My life before sepsis, I was very

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active. We just enjoyed like going to the beach. Just outdoor

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activities. Getting myself relatively fit. Jayne Carpenter from

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Merthyr is a nurse who enjoyed life to the full.

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But six months ago, everything changed.

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I wept to the GP out-of-hours with a cough. I walked into GP out-of-hours

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and then I woke up two-and-a-half months later, having nearly lost my

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life. Very nearly lost my life. But I did lose both my legs, my left arm

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and most of my fingers on the right-hand.

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Jayne didn't realise that back in May the cough she had was in fact

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pneumonia and she was developing sepsis.

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Even though I am a nurse, I know what sepsis is. I know all about it,

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but I didn't recognise the trigger factors or anything within myself.

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I hate being in a wheelchair... But the time Jayne went to hospital she

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was starting to go into multi-organ failure and ended up on

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life-support. For two-and-a-half months was in a coma.

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Just seeing the person that you love, you're with them one minute.

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Everything's basically fine. You go on about your life as usual and then

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the next minute, your life as you know it, all of a sudden, has

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stopped. And obviously my only thought is Jayne, is she going to

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survive? Is she going to make it? Jayne ended up having to have

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life-saving amputations. So part of the physio process

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obviously has been for getting independence. Learning how to put my

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own prosthetic arms and legs on without help.

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So, how did you feel when you woke up and you realised how ill you'd

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been and realised you'd had the am pew tigss -- amputations? No

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recollection of Vy a definitive moment when I realised I didn't have

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any limbs. I think most people, including myself, would think if you

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woke up and realised you didn't have any legs any more, that you would be

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frantic and panic-stricken? You would think so. One of the nurses

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said I repeatedly kept saying to her, "Where's my hand. Where's my

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hand." I cannot remember saying that. When I was told how ill I'd

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been that came second best to... It didn't seem as important as I could

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have died. Jayne spent three-and-a-half months

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in hospital and is still undergoing physiotherapy as she rebuilds her

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life. You are doing really, really well. Especially as you are an

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amputee. It is amazing. Jayne admits she struggles at time with how

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others see her. It is human nature, you look at somebody who is a little

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bit differentment some people go beyond the look. They follow you

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with eye contact and keep on looking. That made me feel I wanted

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to curl up inside. It was a huge challenge for me to go out to

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places. You feel like screaming, do you not know what you are doing to

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me? I have been married 18 years. I still had to ask my husband if he

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could cope with this. He said I married you, not for your arm or

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your leg. He's been fantastic. You know.

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It is difficult to cope, but the only way I look at it is, no matter

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how difficult is it for myself, it a east a lot more difficult for Jayne.

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So, I think to myself, what right have I got to complain when you

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know, Jayne has it far worse than what I have. For now Jayne's focus

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is on adapting to her new way of life.

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I can get to my cooker. I can put things in and out of the oven. I can

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get everywhere. I can get my dish water. I can do things.

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Until meeting Jayne and Rob I didn't fully understand the toil sepsis

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takes, not just on families like mine who lose loved ones, but on

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those who recover from it p. And there are financial implications

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too. Sepsis is said to cost the NHS over ?2 billion a year. In Wales it

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is costing ?125 million. Back in the emergency unit, and Mrs

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Cox's results are in. It is likely we have caught it at an early stage

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before sepsis is actually set in. At the moment it seems she's got a more

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localised infection, affecting her lungs. That is all good news for

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her. You live to see another day. Let's hope so.

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In a few days, Mrs Cox should be going home.

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In Wales, last year, more than 7,500 people were admitted to hospital

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with sepsis. And more than 1500 deaths were linked to it. Though the

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mortality rate in Wales is lower than in England, more lives could be

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saved. I spent half of my life walking

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these corridors, changing in and out of my suit. It keeps me fit, though.

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Today, I am going to meet the Health Health Secretary. Having seen what

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sepsis is doing, I want to know what he thinks the way the NHS in Wales

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dealing it. Why are signs spotted better in some hospitals than

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others? What needs to change? I don't mind admitting, I am a bit

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nervous. It is a first for me. I have never interviewed a politician

:24:33.:24:36.

before. Although I have been mistaken for his boss a few times.

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He's down there in the chamber at the moment. He'll be coming up in a

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minute to see me. Hello. How are you? Hello. Pleased

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to meet you. And you, too. Do you think that maybe all patients that

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show signs of sepsis should be screened and there should be a

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standardised system across Wales put into place to help save lives? We

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have a health improvement programme. We are the first country in the UK

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to have this early score system. It has been rolled out it is about how

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consistently is that being adhered to. It is not happening at the

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moment. You can go into one hospital and I could have signs of sepsis. I

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could go to another hospital and get a different treatment. That is the

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point about the consistency and recognising we are not where we need

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to be and want to be. If we level that out, of course we would end up

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saving more lives. I would not pretend that we are perfect where we

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are. Would you consider, as you are Health Secretary, and you've got the

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power, you could do it, to make screening mandatory across the board

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in hospitals? If a mandatory form would work, then I am minded to

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that, absolutely. What do we do now? What is successful? What do we do

:25:58.:26:01.

more of? I cannot look you in the eye and say I can make a choice

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within the next three weeks or months, that would mean pre-judging

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what advice I would get about what is the right thing to do for the

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service. Once you have looked at everything, you will make a decision

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on it? I will not run away from choices that need to be made to

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improve the service. I have learnt a lot making this

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programme. Now I understand why my dad died. I have met some remarkable

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people and can see why it's so important to keep fighting sepsis.

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Especially for those who have lost so much to it.

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Hello again, Michelle. Nice to see you... For Michelle, campaigning is

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a legacy to Chloe's memory. That is what we're here for, to try

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and spread the word. Get the word out. And try and save some lives.

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Jayne's life may be different now, but there was something she refused

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to let sepsis change. There were two things I remember

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doing. One was to complete my revaluation for nursing. I was

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desperately trying to complete that, which I did, in Intensive Care and

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the other was I wanted my make-up bag. Initially the nursing staff

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were doing it. Then obviously with time constraints of nurses, somebody

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else had to be taught and then Rob had the instructions of doing my

:27:28.:27:33.

make-up every morning. Was he a good make-up artist? He's fantastic.

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Better than me. He has not started wearing your shoes has he? Not to my

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knowledge. They do feel a bit stretched...

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Jayne and Rob are certainly not letting sepsis take any more from

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them. I see myself in the future, you

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know, back to walking the dog. Back to going on the beach. Back to work

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because I want my life back. It was nearly taken away from me so

:28:03.:28:06.

suddenly. It just makes me so, so proud. You

:28:07.:28:13.

know she'll get there. You know that she's going to, she's grabbed life

:28:14.:28:15.

with both hands. She wants it back.

:28:16.:28:20.

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