In this second extract of her sepsis story, updated three years on, Kim reflects on the treatment she received for sepsis once back in the UK from Spain in early 2018.

Once back in the UK, I was taken to the critical care department at Milton Keynes University Hospital. After a further three weeks in a coma, I was awakened. Once I was stable, I was told that my hands and legs had turned black and that I would have to have them amputated.

I was transferred to Bedford Hospital where my hands and legs above the knee were removed in one operation. It then took three months for everything to heal before I could go to a rehabilitation centre. The rehab was hard work and extremely tiring. I had to go to the gym for 9am-12pm then a break for lunch and back again from 1pm-5pm. At first I had to be hoisted as I didn’t know how to sit up, then I had to learn to move. This involved a type of shuffling. It took ages for my brain to engage with my hips to lift and move either back or forward – but once it did I was off like a rocket! I was positive during rehab perhaps because I just wanted to get home to my family and two dogs, who I really missed. It was my husband Steve, my daughters Gemma and Becki, my mum Jean and her sister Sheryl who really supported me. They were all amazing and really helped me get through it. It was still several months before I was finally able to return home though.

After I got home from hospital, I had depression. I found life really hard. I was in a very dark place some days. I then turned to food and gained four and a half stone. I just didn’t care.