Nurse who lost limbs to sepsis to travel the world

A NURSE who developed a simple cough ended up losing both legs and an arm to a bout of sepsis which almost killed her.

Now Jayne Carpenter and her husband Rob are planning an amazing round-theworld trip less than a year after she found herself on life support.

The 49-year-old lost three limbs but is now making a miracle recovery and said: “I feel so lucky to be alive.”

Jayne and husband Rob, who have been married for 18 years, are determined to follow their globe-hopping dreams.

She said: “We didn’t have children so we started to travel all over the world.

“We are both determined that my disability won’t let any of this stop us travelling – Vietnam and Cambodia are next on our list.

“I want to go everywhere we can. I am looking forward to taking our camper van down the beach and go for a long, long walk with our dog Harriet in the sunshine.”

Her illness started as a cough which Jayne believed was a simple cold but she collapsed with pneumonmia and was left fighting for her life when doctors diagnosed the killer blood infection of sepsis.

Jayne was put on a ventilator and heavily sedated for nine weeks during her ordeal – and husband Rob, 52, was told she needed a triple amputation with two teams of surgeons spending five hours to save her life.

She lost both legs, an arm, and four fingers following her terrifying illness in April last year.

She said: “One minute I had a cough then the next I was on a life-support machine.

“The doctor told Robert that I was suffering from neutropenic sepsis and said ‘she will die if we don’t amputate.’

“All Robert wanted to know whether I was going to live.”

Jayne, from Merthyr Tydfil, was critically ill for four weeks she slowly drifted back into consciousness.

She said: “I could not wash, feed, walk, make myself a drink, or even sit up on my own.

“It was hard, very hard, to accept the new me.”

Jayne now has prosthetic legs and is able to walk again and said she felt “lucky to be alive”.

She said: “I am living proof that none of us knows what is around the corner. Life can change beyond recognition in five minutes.

“I’d been fiercely independent and adored my keep-fit regime and long walks on the beach with our dog Harriet.

“Robert is my absolute rock and he has proved his love is completely unconditional. I feel so lucky to have him.

“I am determined to make the most of every single second of each day.”

Rob added: “I married Jayne for who she was and I love her. I just kept telling her that she was going to walk again and that it was just going to take time.

“We’re lucky to have a second chance – a lot of people who have had sepsis don’t have it.

“We are looking to the future now and I am so proud how strong she has been.” was