‘Here and healthy one day and fighting for his life the next…’, Sepsis struck out of the blue for 58 year old Stuart Glen from Uddingston in late March 2023. Tragically, despite initial signs of improvement, Stuart lost his life to sepsis on 1st April, just 8 days after his first symptoms. Stuart’s family have very kindly agreed to share an account of his last days with Sepsis Research FEAT in the hope of raising awareness. His daughter Kirsty explains what happened:
My mum Lorraine and dad Stuart had been away for an overnight stay on Friday 25th March 2023. They did their usual on the way home and visited a few places where my dad wanted to use his drone and take pictures. He was completely fine and my mum and dad were discussing what they would have for dinner that night when they got home. When they arrived back later that day though my dad mentioned to my mum that he was starting to feel a bit shivery, but he didn’t mention it again. That night he got up to be sick and from there the sickness and diarrhoea started. He couldn’t hold down fluids or food, and this continued until the Tuesday when he also started to become slightly breathless. So my mum took him to A&E at Wishaw General Hospital on the Tuesday night. The staff didn’t really say the words ‘sepsis’ at that stage though – they kept saying that he had an infection. A nurse kept saying to my dad, ‘You are very sick Mr Glen.’
My dad’s blood pressure was very low and his temperature was very high so he was admitted to the adult critical care unit. He was ventilated on the morning of Wednesday 29th March and was in the CCU until Saturday 1st April when he tragically lost his battle with sepsis as a result of a blood clot that had formed very quickly in his lungs.
I think my dad was aware at the time that he really wasn’t well but thought that he would probably require treatment for a few days or a week in hospital. I don’t think he knew it was life- threatening or the seriousness of it all. And my mum wasn’t aware either – she thought the medication and treatment he was receiving in A&E would have helped him get better. I went to work as normal on the Wednesday morning and thought I would go and visit him in a day or two when he was feeling slightly better.
At first he was treated with a steroid. An IV antibiotic and hydration drip was put into his neck to help with the low blood pressure, high temperature and dehydration. On the Wednesday morning he was struggling more with his breathing, so he was immediately sedated and put on ventilation. From here his health continued to deteriorate. On the Wednesday night whilst under sedation the nurses and doctors in the ACCU put my dad on dialysis to help his kidney function and to lower his temperature. Once they had him more stable over the next few days, they very slowly reduced his support to increase his blood pressure. They also decreased his sedation levels while keeping him asleep. His infection levels were improving according to his white blood cell count – he seemed to be making tentative progress and we were hopeful he would pull through. They never could get to bottom of where his infection originated from. They tested everything using CT scans and lumbar punctures and sent samples to test for things like Strep A – all came back negative. We still to this day do not know where his sepsis came from.
After my dad died the ACCU nurses and doctors sent a card and two jars with my dad’s heartbeat printed onto them. We sent a thank you card and gifts to them for the care they gave him and I included some of the questions that I have, to gain a bit more closure as this all happened so suddenly.
It is good to write everything down and really come to the realisation that sepsis is such a silent but deadly killer. My mum and I questioned whether we could have reacted quicker. Writing it all down makes us realise that that isn’t the case and that it did happen very quickly, with little or no warning.
I have been researching and reading a lot about sepsis to try and understand it and help with my healing and grieving process. I want to share my dad’s story because I feel like he was taken so suddenly – he was here and healthy one day and fighting for his life the next. My dad didn’t present with the usual symptoms of sepsis and if we had called a doctor earlier they would probably have said it was a sickness bug and to get plenty of rest and fluids. I want to share my story – if I can help educate someone and save one life then it’s worth it.
My dad used to say to my mum and me ‘If you’re happy, I’m happy’ and I think that sums him up as person. He was a selfless man who gave back to others by volunteering for Drone SAR for Lost Dogs – flying his drone to look for lost dogs. He was also part of Lanarkshire Trap and Scan who look for lost dogs. He was successful with this and has been in the paper many times for reuniting families with their lost pets, which he was so chuffed about. He was caring and kind, a family man who wanted no more than to have all his family around him.
We are still struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of my dad – our lives will never be the same again. But we want to share his story to help others. We didn’t know sepsis could display itself in the way that it did with my dad. We always thought sepsis was something that you could lose your limbs with or was blood poisoning. We didn’t realise that it’s the immune system’s response to an infection – bacterial, viral or fungal – and that it can start attacking the body and shutting down organs so quickly.
I would say to others, be vigilant – sepsis can be silent. Get anything checked out ASAP if you feel it’s not normal. And finally, live life to its fullest. We never know what’s around the corner. Squeeze your loved ones a bit tighter and appreciate them always.