‘Sepsis’ death of student, 20 who put off treatment for ear infection
A MUSIC student who thought she had a severe ear infection died from suspected sepsis after she delayed seeking treatment.
Victoria Hills, 20, postponed a trip to her campus GP because her student loan had not come through and she was worried that she could not afford the £8.60 cost of a prescription.
She took painkillers and told friends she was having an early night. But she died in bed at her Bournemouth University hall of residence. She was not discovered until two days later, when worried friends reported that they had not seen her.
Now her mother Tracey wants to use the talented saxophonist’s death last month to make students aware that they should see a GP if they have any infection.
She said Victoria, from Chichester, West Sussex, had begun getting colds as soon as she started at university last September.
‘She thought she had an ear infection, but she said there was no point going to the doctor because she couldn’t afford a prescription,’ said Mrs Hills, 52.
‘I was messaging her on Facebook, and she said she thought she might have had flu. The last thing she said to me, on January 31, was “Right, I’m going to dose myself up on painkillers, then try and eat and get some sleep”. She told me she loved me.
‘ I never heard from her again. The irony is, that week I’d started on an immunosuppressant drug and she hadn’t wanted to come home and make me ill. If anything comes from this, I want students to know to always be on the lookout for this horrible condition.’ On February 3, Victoria told a friend online that she felt so dizzy she could not stand. She is believed to have died early the following day, a Sunday. Campus security entered her room on February 6, and found her dead in bed.
Although the cause of her death has not been fully explained, medics suspect an infection may have triggered deadly sepsis.
It develops when an infection sparks a severe immune response in which the body attacks its own organs. It is the leading cause of avoidable deaths in the UK, killing at least 44,000 people a year.
The Daily Mail has battled to raise awareness through our End The Sepsis Scandal campaign.
The Sepsis Trust says students are particularly at risk from sepsis. It advises anyone with flu-like symptoms or other signs of sepsis to seek immediate treatment to ensure they get antibiotics.