Sepsis nearly killed me says TV tycoon’s girl
THE daughter of former Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne almost died after mistaking deadly sepsis for a hangover.
Abi Bannatyne thought she had partied too hard at a friend’s wedding in France when she woke up feeling unwell and shivering.
But she was suffering from a bladder infection which would not go away. Within 24 hours she had been rushed to hospital and lay hallucinating on the floor of a busy A&E unit while doctors tried to find her a bed.
The mother-of-two had a temperature of more than 107F and spent six days in hospital, having to celebrate her 34th birthday on a ward surrounded by her family and her two children, Ava, nine, and Austin, six.
Freezing
Abi, from Middlesbrough, said: “We had a pretty mad weekend so when I got to work on Monday morning I was still feeling unwell and just presumed I was still getting over it.
“By lunchtime I was freezing cold and sitting next to a heater when one of my colleagues told me I should head home to rest.
“I had a lot of pain in my lower back and felt stiff, I got into bed and couldn’t lift my head up from my pillow and then I started vomiting uncontrollably, even though I couldn’t eat. But I was still adamant it was a hangover and that I would be fine in a couple of days.”
Abi continued to rest in bed but when her temperature rocketed paramedics decided to rush her to North Tees Hospital, and she was diagnosed within half an hour.
Abi had private healthcare through her father’s business, but was so happy with her treatment she stayed at Teesside.
“The nurses and doctors were amazing, although it was quite depressing being in a hospital on your birthday.
“I dread to think of the outcome if I had not listened. I was at the gym three times a week and running Abi, right, thought she was suffering from a hangover but it turned out to be the killer infection sepsis. Left, with her father, Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne regularly – now I struggle to run up the stairs. I’m still recovering six months on.”
Abi only told her 69-year-old father, who lives in Portugal, once she was off the danger list.
She said: “Dad was really worried, he was calling and texting me every day.”
Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, said: “Stories like Abi’s remind us of the serious damage sepsis can do.
“Better awareness could save thousands of lives each year.
“With every hour that passes before the right antibiotics are administered, the risk of death increases.”