The father saved thanks to NHS war against sepsis
A FATHER who came within two hours of death as a result of sepsis has praised the 111 call handler who saved his life.
The family of Matt Cooper, 43, said his recovery proved that efforts to raise awareness of the lethal condition are working.
Mr Cooper, a computer programmer from Bristol, thought he had a minor throat infection until he developed aching muscles and chronic diarrhoea.
His GP diagnosed him with a virus but later that night he got a rash and decided to ring 111. Realising his symptoms were very serious, the call handler dispatched paramedics – who discovered his throat infection had triggered sepsis.
The married father spent two weeks in the Bristol Royal Infirmary with his wife Victoria, 41, and children Benjamin, seven, and Olivia, one, by his bedside.
Doctors said he had come within two hours of death by multiple organ failure and had only been saved by the actions of quick-thinking medi- cal staff. More than a year after his diagnosis in September 2016, Mr Cooper is still weary and suffers a patchy memory – but is otherwise unscathed.
His wife is now urging people to ‘keep asking’ if they could have sepsis if they feel unwell.
The Daily Mail’s End The Sepsis Scandal campaign has led to major improvements in how the NHS deals with the illness. It was triggered by the death of 12-month- old William Mead in 2014. A scathing report found inexperienced call handlers at the NHS 111 helpline had failed to realise he needed urgent help.
Sepsis is treatable with antibiotics and fluids, but these must be given very early on to prevent serious complications. The condition causes an estimated 44,000 deaths a year and is known as the ‘silent killer’ because symptoms develop so quickly.
Mr Cooper said: ‘I’m still surprised about how common sepsis is and more surprised by how little awareness many people have of it ... I certainly didn’t think it could be caused by a minor throat infection.’ Mrs Cooper added: ‘I thought that you got blood poisoning from a rusty nail or something. I had no idea it could mask itself as a virus.
‘Every single hour is critical, he was a couple of hours away from not making it. They showed us on a graph how close he was to losing his kidneys altogether.
‘Even if you have been told that you are okay, if you think there is something wrong you can’t wait.
‘ You have got to keep asking ... “could this be sepsis?”’
After Mr Cooper arrived at hospital, he was put into a coma and given dialysis. He said: ‘I know that I was lucky to survive and that many people in a similar condition don’t survive. ‘Even though I feel like I was lucky, more than one year later I’m still affected by it every day.
‘ I’m not yet able to work full-time and can get extremely tired very quickly.
However, many survivors have much more serious long-term physical and physiological symptoms. I spoke to both a 111 handler and then was referred to a nurse on the call. I do think it is partially due to both of them that I survived.’
NHS guidelines announced in March say that all patients arriving at hospital with possible sepsis should be assessed and given treatment within an hour.
‘I was lucky to survive’