A black belt in Karate and a keen mountain biking enthusiast, Mark Oakes, 51, from Essex was a fit guy by anyone’s standards. Someone he says his wife Heather would describe as strong and ‘a fighter’. It was those reserves of strength that he would need to draw on when he became seriously ill very suddenly in the summer of 2022.
Mark’s story started in July 2022 when he returned from cycling in Epping forest with what he thought were three insect bites. A few days later he went from ‘feeling 100%’ in the morning to being unable to move his right arm by 5pm. He went to bed that night with a fever. The following day, he was still feeling very unwell so went to A&E at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow to get his shoulder looked at. Staff suspected that Mark had a frozen shoulder and referred him to orthopaedics.
However, the following week, having not been to the toilet for seven days and managing the pain in his shoulder with co-codamol, Mark measured his SATs using his wife’s Apple Watch. He was shocked to get a reading of just 68%. He immediately went back to A&E and was admitted for surgery to wash out his shoulder. It was during that surgery that his liver and kidneys failed and his lungs began to fill with fluid. The team decided that it was vital to keep Mark anaesthetised and he was immediately admitted to the hospital’s ITU.
Mark says that he woke up in the ITU about 17 hours later ‘with multiple lines in my body and still on oxygen…so I knew I was seriously unwell.’ It was then that he was told by a member of staff that he had sepsis. Whilst he now struggles to remember who it was that first gave him that diagnosis, he says, ‘I do know that I just had a really strong sense of “I MUST survive…my son and my family need me. I want Lincoln to know me as he gets older”.’
Mark and Heather’s son Lincoln was just seven at the time and Mark thinks that, whilst he knew his Dad wasn’t well, Lincoln was probably never told how seriously ill Mark was. ‘Heather worked exceptionally hard to keep his life as normal as possible, as well as visiting me. She has had the hardest journey of all of us, without a doubt.’
He continues, ‘Heather was confident I would be alright in the end though – she views me as strong and a “fighter”. It must have been beyond tough for her when the medics told her that the infection was getting stronger quicker than I was and that she should consider bringing Linc in “to say goodbye”.’ But Heather retained her faith that her husband of ten years would get better, and the first time that Mark therefore saw his son was when he was stable and strong enough for two ITU nurses to wheel him outside. ‘This small thing was clearly a logistical investment for the unit but it was something for which I was truly appreciative.’ says Mark.
Mark was to spend ten days in the ITU at PAH, and a further ten on the hospital’s Saunders ward. During his stay in hospital he was treated with a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine, oxygen, antibiotics – both intra-venously and orally – as well as a range of other medication including pain management, potassium and anti-inflammatories.
It transpired that Mark had had septic arthritis and that his body had gone into septic shock. He subsequently needed further surgery on his right shoulder in September and December of 2022 and at the time of writing in April 2023 was scheduled to see a specialist at the Bone Infection Unit in Oxford for ongoing problems that he was experiencing.
Through all of it, it was Mark’s family and friends who kept him going, he says. He also credits the focus, determination and breathing that he learnt through his Karate training for helping him to pull through. He remains the Vice President and Head Judge for the UKDFBA, a Drug Free Bodybuilding Association, and competed for many years, winning the Professional World Championships in 2013, before retiring from competition. With a black belt in Kyokushin Karate, prior to the sepsis Mark had been karate training at least twice a week, alongside four weights sessions in the gym. He was also a keen mountain biker. ‘When I first became aware of my sepsis diagnosis, I remember thinking – “I am healthy, I eat well, I train and I lead a balanced life…why did I get this?” I am sure now that I WILL be fine. I just need a plan and an understanding of what I need to do to get fully well again’, he says. Mark hopes to be back on his bike as soon as his ongoing shoulder challenges have been resolved.
Mark continues, ‘One positive is that I appreciate the love I have for my family more than ever and I feel like my “worry threshold” has changed – I really don’t worry about some of the things that I would have done in the past. Some training and exercise is still disproportionately hard, but I will push through it as I know that it will help me to improve.’
Mark says that he is happy to share his story in the hope that it will help someone else. Despite his work as a project director in the pharmaceuticals industry, and therefore considering himself to be reasonably well- informed, he says that he hadn’t realised just how common or serious sepsis can be. Like many generally healthy men, he also suspects that he was guilty of “pushing through” and that he should have sought help sooner. He would, he says, also advise others to stay “in the system” in order to continue to get appropriate care.
Mark concludes by saying, ‘If I had to share one final message with others it would be this: take control of the things you can and be grateful for people around you.’