Of their 37 year old daughter – a trainee counsellor from East Anglia who tragically became fatally ill with sepsis in May 2023 – David and Joan Hughes say ‘Laura was a bright, bubbly and caring person…Her aim was always to spread laughter and make a positive difference by helping others.’
Laura worked in entertainment, hospitality and as a life connector. Her parents and younger sister Emma have very kindly and movingly shared her experience with Sepsis Research FEAT in memory of Laura and to help raise awareness of sepsis.
In the late spring of 2023, Laura arrived home in Whissonsett, Norwich from a holiday in Lincolnshire. She felt unwell and cold that evening and was shivering so she took herself off to bed. During the night, however, she visited the bathroom and collapsed. She was found by her housemate lying on the bathroom floor. He could see that she was incoherent – her eyes were glazed and staring and she was unable to communicate.
An ambulance was immediately called and paramedics arrived just a short while later. Her condition was deemed to be so serious that the local air ambulance was alerted but was unfortunately unable to attend due to the weather conditions at the time. Laura’s housemate called us at 4.50 am and made us aware of the situation. When we heard we were in shock – as far as we knew she’d arrived home with no problems following a lovely holiday with her friend. We were initially unsure what to do – whether to travel to her house or to the hospital so we waited for further information for a short while. In the end we felt we had to do something, so we made our way to her house which was about an hour away.
It transpired that the fire service needed to be called out to help get Laura downstairs. The ambulance crew worked on Laura meanwhile and she was sedated. At that stage her housemate was told that it was possible that she was suffering from meningitis.
We were still on our way to the house at this stage. During our journey we had another call to say that Laura was on her way to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital so we immediately diverted and arrived there at 7am – around the same time as the ambulance. I think at this point we knew it was serious but felt she was now in the right place to get the treatment she needed and was going to be alright. We didn’t think – or want to think – any more than that.
Almost immediately Laura was taken for a scan and that’s when we saw her on the hospital trolley. She was lifeless but we both spoke to her saying things like ‘Hang on Laura, fight it…’ She was then wheeled into the lift and we went back to the waiting area. We felt totally numb – helpless. It was at this point that Laura’s sister Emma arrived. The paramedic who had initially treated Laura then came and told us that Laura was extremely ill and that her condition was life-threatening. They told us that we weren’t looking at day-by-day but at hour-by-hour.
We were then asked if Laura had had any kind of insect bite recently or whether she’d had an infection or been unwell. We were not aware of anything though. We checked with the person she had been on holiday with. They had apparently walked in woodland and Laura thought she might have been bitten on the leg but it was nothing that would have caused any concern and the hospital was unable to find a mark of any sort.
When Laura came back from the scan she was taken straight to the ICU and was placed on life support. The consultant treating her told us at that point that she could be suffering from meningococcal septicaemia. He said that he’d only seen three other cases like Laura’s in terms of the speed and severity of her symptoms and one of those was someone who’d taken an overdose of ecstasy. The doctors tried a number of different antibiotics, but there was no change in her condition. We all held her hand, stroked her forehead and talked to her. We played one of her favourite songs, and some of us prayed.
Shortly afterwards the consultant came to speak with us all again and said that Laura was not responding to any of the treatment and that she was dying. We were informed that her heart had stopped and that she had been resuscitated. We were advised to say our final goodbyes.
The monitors in the room were turned off and staff left the room to keep an eye on Laura’s condition from outside. We stayed with Laura. We played more music we knew she liked and we stood with our hands resting on her, each saying our final farewells. I asked if the tubes and wires could be taken away so I could give her a final hug but that wasn’t allowed because everything needed to be kept in place in order for staff to carry out their checks. We had no last conversations with Laura, no final hugs.
Between receiving the first phone call in the morning to Laura’s death less than 12 hours had elapsed. We were in total shock.
The nurses gave our other daughter Emma crocheted hearts for her children – one to keep and one to stay with Laura.
Laura’s cause of death was recorded as septic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC – a serious disorder that occurs in response to illness or disease in the body and which results in dysregulated blood clotting.)
Sepsis took our wonderful Laura and deprived the world of a first-class counsellor and a caring soul in the prime of her life.
Research into sepsis is paramount to stop this indiscriminate and brutal life taker. Sepsis Research FEAT is leading the way in the UK to find answers. Since Laura’s death we have managed to get some online counselling through Sue Ryder although sadly there is a waiting list for this. We have also attended a monthly bereavement group at Colney woodland where we arranged the celebration of Laura’s life. Members of the charity Cruse Bereavement Support are in attendance and this has proved very helpful.
We wanted to find a way to prevent others going through the same pain and suffering that our family is still experiencing. The funeral directors made us aware of the charity Sepsis Research FEAT. We visited the website and read of the work that the charity does. So instead of floral tributes we asked friends and family for donations in Laura’s memory to go to Sepsis Research FEAT. People were very generous.
Since then, we have shared some of our experience with Sepsis Research FEAT. We shared an image of Laura and a tribute to her as part of the charity’s Christmas ‘In memory’ awareness campaign in 2023. They produced a video remembering those like Laura who had lost their lives to sepsis. Our wider family are aware of the charity and share some of the charity’s posts on Facebook to help raise awareness. As we’ve said before sepsis is an indiscriminate life-taker and it can attack suddenly with little or no warning.
Laura worked as a life connector and was coming up to her final year studying for a degree in counselling. She was doing well and the college said she would make a brilliant counsellor. Laura wanted to help others find peace and some stability in their lives. She would be proud to know that through her story she is helping others become sepsis-aware and that hopefully this translates into saving lives.
We take a holistic view these days – Laura is always with us. She had a zest for life and travel and she would want us to live our lives fully and make the most of all that it offers. You never think something like this will happen to you or your family, but it does. It can happen to the nicest of people and it is devastating when it does. So make the most of what life has to offer. Tomorrow is never guaranteed.
When Laura entered a room she radiated energy. She loved to use an array of silly voices and people couldn’t help but laugh and join in with her. She was fun to be with and others couldn’t help but gravitate towards her.
As a family, we are in the process of planning a fundraising and awareness walk along part of the Norfolk coastal path this autumn – from Cromer to Hunstanton pier (just short of 50 miles). It will take two full days, starting on World Sepsis Day, Friday 13th September 2024. We have a fundraising page set up and would be so grateful for any support for the walk and for the work of Sepsis Research FEAT. Our fundraising page can be found at Emma Hughes is fundraising for Sepsis Research FEAT (justgiving.com)
Charity comment: Laura’s tragic story is testament to one of this charity’s key messages: that sepsis can strike anyone at any time and is utterly indiscriminate in the way that it affects individuals of any age.
More research is desperately needed to understand why some people are more susceptible than others when infection strikes – to understand the processes at play in the body and the best way to diagnose and treat patients presenting with sepsis. All of these are key areas of research being funded by Sepsis Research FEAT. It is only with the generous support of families such as the Hughes that Sepsis Research FEAT is able to honour its founding commitment to raise awareness of sepsis and improve outcomes for sepsis patients. We are so grateful to the Hughes for sharing Laura’s story and their generosity in undertaking their fundraising challenge.