A young Renfrewshire woman who has fought life-threatening sepsis multiple times has warned others about the dangers of blood poisoning.
Nicola Murray - speaking during Sepsis Awareness Month - was diagnosed when she was just 19 years old on her first day in a new job as an apprentice nursery practitioner.
Sepsis is a potentially-deadly condition which takes the lives of more than 4,000 people in Scotland every year. It occurs when the body’s response to an infection spirals rapidly out of control, injuring its own tissues and organs, which can result in multiple organ failure and death.
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Nicola, 24, from Bishopton said: “I felt very poorly but put it down to first-day nerves.
"However, when I got home, I felt awful and took to my bed. Over the next two days, my symptoms got worse. I was sick, had diarrhoea, a very high temperature, shivering, and began hallucinating.
"On the third day I saw my GP and was sent to hospital as they thought I had a severe flu.
“After two days the tests revealed it wasn’t flu but pneumonia and then I was told I had sepsis. I didn’t understand what this was so it was explained to me how sepsis attacks your body.
"After treatment of antibiotics and oxygen and a four-day stay in the hospital, I was allowed home. I recovered well enough to return to work after three weeks. I had just thought I’d been unlucky.”
Nicola had various other issues with the condition - also called septicaemia - including losing her appetite, suffering high temperatures and being hospitalised.
Soon after moving into her flat in November last year, she started feeling ill again and her partner rushed her to hospital.
Nicola added: “I had just moved into my new flat two months before. Everything was going well but one night I didn’t feel well.
"I can now recognise the symptoms and feel a difference so know when something is wrong. This time I did not feel myself at all.
“The sickness and diarrhoea were back and I was shaking and knew this was known as the “rigors”. The rigors are when your body feels freezing but you are boiling to touch.
"You can’t physically move as you feel so cold. I shouted for my boyfriend as I knew I needed urgent medical help. He checked my temperature and it was 39.8. He called 999 as he was aware of my past medical history.”
She is also working with charity Sepsis Research FEAT to help spread awareness and have more people aware of the symptoms and hopefully save lives.
The symptoms of sepsis are confusion, not passing enough urine, a very high or low temperature, uncontrolled shivering and blotchy arms and legs.
Sepsis Research FEAT previously worked with the Scottish Government on awareness campaigns in 2018 and 2019, reaching more than 1.3 million people across Scotland.
Their latest partnership will build on this success with a nationwide multimedia campaign which will include commercial TV, radio, print and social media.
Find out more about the new awareness campaign run by Sepsis Research FEAT and the Scottish Government at sepsisresearch.org.uk/national-awareness-campaigns
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