Only a few weeks after speaking with someone who had sepsis and nearly died, BBC broadcaster Sarah McMullan was brought to the hospital.
For BBC Scotland’s The Nine in September, the journalist, age 30, spoke with a woman who was on the verge of dying from sepsis.
Later, while still at work in early October, she developed the illness herself.
“I started physically shaking and all the colour drained from my face,” Sarah told BBC Scotland’s Drivetime.
“My lips were turning blue. My hands were chalk white, like you had been standing outside in winter for hours. There was no colour in my skin. There was no heat in my body.”
She went on to say that she was “shivering and shaking uncontrollably” and questioned whether she was having a panic attack.
The actor reportedly waited more than 36 hours before contacting NHS24 for assistance and spent close to a week in the hospital as a result.
Sarah tweeted a clip of her September interview with sepsis victim Kimberley Bradley and informed her followers that a month later, she developed sepsis herself.
“Resulting in an A and E visit, a week in hospital and a couple more weeks of tablets and rest.
“These are the symptoms. And if you suspect #sepsis don’t hesitate to get help.”
“I should’ve acted sooner,” she said.
She later shared a snap of herself in the studio, saying: “Thank you everyone for the kind well wishes.
“Very glad to be back to work, back in the studio and back to business.”
The illness, also known as blood poisoning, is described by the UK Sepsis Trust as “the immune system’s overreaction to an infection or damage.”
Slurred speech or bewilderment, acute shivering or muscle pain, passing no urine (in a day), excruciating breathlessness, and mottled or discoloured skin are some symptoms that can occur in adults.
