Rochdale sepsis survivor fronts charity Christmas campaign

A local sepsis survivor is supporting the charity Sepsis Research FEAT by becoming one of the faces of its Christmas campaign to help people learn the symptoms of sepsis and save more lives.

Mike Mahoney, of Rochdale, fell very ill during the week leading up to Christmas in 2018. As managing director of his own company, Mike put it down to having to work long hours and stress caused by business worries.

He told his wife, Clare, that he had never felt so ill but being familiar with the ‘man-flu’ joke he simply took some over the counter medication and carried on.

Mike said: “I just continued to feel ill, very chesty, coughing a lot, severe headache, severe chills followed by extreme sweats. I am the sort of person who just carries on and pushes through. On Christmas Eve we had to go to a farm to collect our Christmas meat order and I honestly thought I was going to pass out. I felt like I was dying.

“I made the decision we would ask our family not to come round for Christmas dinner as I felt so ill. When I woke up on Christmas Day I felt right as rain so Christmas dinner was back on but by 3pm I had started hallucinating in the kitchen then dropping things. I managed to get through dinner but was falling asleep in the lounge and felt like I was dying again.

“After family had gone home, I said to Clare I would sleep on the sofa as I was coughing so much and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the stairs. I called 111 at around 3am as I felt so ill and I explained that my temperature was through the roof and I was freezing and hallucinating.”

Mike was told an ambulance would be dispatched and made it to his front door to unlock it. Then he passed out on the sofa, waking again at 4.30am but not able to move and even struggling to lift his head. He managed to call 111 again only to be told the ambulance had been diverted to an emergency.

Mike said: “I decided I didn’t want Clare or my 13-year-old daughter, Emily, to find me slumped on the floor dead as I knew I was dying. I tried to make myself presentable and sat into the corner so they wouldn’t find me on the floor.”

It was four hours later, at 8.30am, when he was awakened by paramedics banging on the door.

“I managed to shout it’s open, and that’s when all hell broke loose - lines going in, being given oxygen and being asked loads of questions I could not answer. Clare heard the commotion and came down and I was glad to get what I thought would be the last look at my wife.

“In the ambulance I heard the paramedics calling ahead saying ‘we have an unresponsive male, with a temperature of 104 and sats (oxygen saturation) of 72, query sepsis’. Once in hospital, I believe I briefly improved but by lunchtime, I was heading to ICU as my sats were all over the place.”

Mike had been taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital where he was put into an induced coma on 27 December.

He said: “I believe at this point no one had mentioned sepsis to my wife. I was in respiratory failure caused by bilateral pneumonia brought on by Influenza A. I was now ventilated and started to go into kidney failure and was placed on dialysis.

“It was after this event that one of the ICU nurses mentioned it could be sepsis. I had the first of three heart attacks on 4 January 2019. I also had some cardiac arrests and I remember one incident where I felt I was looking down on myself being worked on.

“I was in the coma for nearly four weeks and had a tracheotomy but I was so unwell I kept trying to pull the tubes out. I had a week of psychosis where I was convinced I was being held hostage and injected to keep me there.”

Mike was kept at the Royal Oldham until 4 February and says he had the “best of treatment” while in intensive care. “It was truly unbelievable according to my family who were there every day, until the point where I was moved to a normal ward and then, sadly, it was poor.”

With the support of his family, he began his recovery but was disappointed by the aftercare from the NHS after discharge which he said has been “practically non-existent”. 

Three years later, Mike is still receiving treatment, including being treated for PTSD, Neuropathy and Lupus. The trauma of contracting and surviving sepsis has changed Mike’s outlook on life. He said: “I brushed the coma off and still do but I am scared. I have nightmares every single night and some nights I am scared to go to sleep.

“We must continue to support each other and push for better training for GPs on sepsis and to raise awareness of sepsis symptoms so everyone can recognise them.

“I’d also urge people to support Sepsis Research FEAT as the only charity in the UK raising funds for research into this terrifying and potentially deadly illness to find new treatments which will defeat it more quickly and effectively.”

Sepsis Research FEAT’s Christmas campaign features supporters like Mike who are sharing their sepsis stories so that more people become aware of the symptoms and why it is vital to seek urgent medical attention if you spot them in yourself or a loved one.

Approximately 50,000 people die from sepsis every year in the UK. Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to an infection spirals rapidly out of control, injuring its own tissues and organs which can result in multiple organ failure and death.

As the UK’s only charity dedicated to funding research into sepsis while working to raise awareness, Sepsis Research FEAT understands the importance of increasing everyone’s knowledge about this deadly condition.

If people are able to recognise the signs and symptoms of sepsis, they can quickly seek the correct medical help and improve their chances of recovery. For every hour treatment is delayed, a person’s chance of survival reduces by over 7%.

The five key symptoms of sepsis are:

• very high or low temperature
• uncontrolled shivering
• confusion
• passing little urine 
• blotchy or cold arms and legs

Sepsis can be hard to recognise and diagnose because, in its early stages, it can have similar symptoms to common winter conditions like the flu and chest infections. However, if someone has two or more of these symptoms, becoming progressively or rapidly worse, this indicates sepsis and urgent medical attention should be sought.

It can also be hard for people with sepsis to spot the signs as their health may deteriorate rapidly and they could become confused. Sepsis Research FEAT is urging people to look out for their family and friends this Christmas and seek medical attention on their behalf.

Mike said: “We must continue to support each other and push for better training for GPs on sepsis and to raise awareness of sepsis symptoms so everyone can recognise them.

"I’d also urge people to support Sepsis Research FEAT as the only charity in the UK raising funds for research into this terrifying and potentially deadly illness to find new treatments which will defeat it more quickly and effectively.”

Colin Graham, Chief Operating Officer at Sepsis Research FEAT, said: “It is vital that everyone knows the symptoms of sepsis so they can seek the correct medical treatment in time. Sepsis is an indiscriminate, deadly condition that can kill a healthy adult in a matter of hours.

“Because the symptoms are sometimes similar, cases of sepsis can be mistaken for the flu, particularly around Christmas and the winter months when flu is more common. The difference is that these symptoms worsen rapidly when sepsis is the cause. The most important thing is to react fast and seek urgent medical attention as this can improve chances of survival.

“We are incredibly grateful to supporters like Mike for sharing their stories this Christmas to help others learn more about sepsis. Our Christmas campaign celebrates Mike and other sepsis survivors who were fortunate to have been diagnosed early enough and whose treatment was successful.

“At the same time, we remember the many people whose lives have been lost to sepsis and so our charity and supporters fight on in their name to continue to raise awareness and fund vital research.”

For more information about Sepsis Research FEAT and the charity’s Christmas campaign can be found here.