Stirling Observer

Info..Info..Info

-

Every four hours someone in Scotland dies from Sepsis.

It is a rare but serious complicati­on of an infection.

Without quick treatment, sepsis can lead to multiple organ failure and death.

Symptoms of sepsis can multiply and get worse very quickly.

Here, Craig Stobo shares his harrowing story of the devastatin­g effect sepsis had on his family and how his late wife Fiona inspired him to set up a fund in her memory.

He writes... Before the weekend of August 23, 2012, I had never heard of sepsis.

I was living in Edinburgh with my wife, Fiona and our two-year-old son, Robert.

We were expecting our second child at the end of September and had just recently moved house.

I was working for one of the ‘Big Four’ accountanc­y firms based in Edinburgh and Fiona was a GP retainer working two days a week in Bo’ness.

Our life together was full and as hectic as it is for most couples with a young family and both parents working.

We were both looking forward to the baby’s arrival to complete our wee family.

This was all to change in the most ghastly and shocking fashion over the course of just 62 hours that weekend.

I am a very lucky man to be alive. I am here and able to write this today because of Fiona’s quick action in getting me to my GP.

If I had gone home from work on August 23 to crawl into my bed and sleep off what I thought was flu – it would have been my final sleep.

In fact, I had a virulent infection which led to cellulitis and sepsis, and by the time I reached A&E at Edinburgh Western, this had become septic shock.

Without treatment, I would have been on my way out; I now know that by the time sepsis has reached that stage, the survival rate is only 50 per cent.

Thanks to Fiona’s interventi­on and quick thinking, and the prompt action of my GP and treatment by the medical staff in A&E at Edinburgh Western, my life was saved.

I was and am very fortunate: at each stage where things had to happen quickly and go the right way, they did.

I was Fiona’s last patient and I owe my life to her.

Tragically, Fiona herself also became seriously ill just 24 hours later.

Fiona was taken to Forth Valley Royal hospital on the evening of Friday, 24 after suddenly falling ill.

She had been perfectly well up until then and had had an antenatal scan the previous day, at which point both she and the baby

 ??  ?? Lasting memory Craig with son Robert and his wife Fiona, who inspired him to set up the Trust in her memory
Lasting memory Craig with son Robert and his wife Fiona, who inspired him to set up the Trust in her memory

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom