24 year old Harriet Little from Peterborough is a gold medal winning Archery GB team member and masters student who has had a neurological disability since the age of nine. Earlier in 2022, she felt unwell during a trip to get coffee with a friend. This marked the beginning of a frustrating and terrifying journey for her and her family that led to her eventually being diagnosed with sepsis.
In March of this year, I was out with a friend for a coffee when I suddenly started shivering. Due to my neurological disability which I have had since I was nine, I have felt the cold much more than others so put it down to this. My friend suggested I buy a jumper as I hadn’t come out with one as that weekend was quite warm despite it only being March. I asked for my friend to drop me home after we had had our coffee instead of going shopping.
When I got home, my parents were out so I took my temperature, which was 37.9°c. I took some paracetamol and had a nap. I thought it would do me good as I was maybe overtired from training the previous day with Archery GB. However, when I woke up from my nap, my temperature had gone up to 38°c.
My parents and I all thought it was a urine infection, however, when I arrived at the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) on Monday, the nurse could not find much wrong with me except cloudy urine. Despite this, she offered me 3 days of antibiotics. On the 1st of April, I went to have a new NJ feeding tube put in. Before the procedure, they took my observations and found my pulse rate was high but they put that down to me being nervous. After the procedure, I had a temperature as well as my pulse rate still being high, however, they put this down to the sedation and sent me home.
There was a lot of back and forth with the doctor as I still thought I had a urine infection. Then, during an appointment on 5th August, I experienced loose bowels and was unable to transfer from the bed to my wheelchair as I felt so weak. This was abnormal for me. When I did try to transfer back to my wheelchair, I fell and ended up on the floor. The doctors had to get a hoist to help pick me back up.
My mum asked the nurses if she should take me straight to A&E – which was in the same hospital. They advised that it was very busy and there would be a long wait so suggested we go home and call the GP.
When I got home my mum and nan had to help me take a shower, which again is completely unusual for me, normally I am independent in the shower and doing personal hygiene. My mum noticed that my lips were turning blue and called the GP surgery who said to ring 999 urgently.
After waiting an hour and a half for an ambulance, the paramedics arrived. Straight away they identified my symptoms as being life-critical signs of sepsis.
I was later told my sepsis was caused by a blood infection. I was treated at Peterborough Hospital for three months between intensive care and the main ward. In total, I received five blood transfusions as well as two different kinds of IV antibiotics. I am still receiving treatment on and off for urosepsis.
I discovered Sepsis Research FEAT after being diagnosed with sepsis and I have found them really helpful. I have also found support from others who have been through sepsis themselves. Not many people around me knew how to help me at the time as they didn’t fully understand the seriousness of sepsis.
I didn’t really have an outlook when diagnosed but, a few days later, I realised that sepsis was another bump in my very long road of illness and disability, and if I could overcome it then everything else was easy.
My message to others is that sepsis is scary, we may need to ask for help and that’s ok. We are all human and are allowed to be scared, but it’s important to remember that we are still strong and have fight. I am sharing my story as I want to raise awareness about sepsis for the public but also help medical professionals who still don’t know all the red flags of sepsis.