‘Chris was a very loving man who doted on his family. He loved life and being a daddy. His life really took on purpose when his son was born, he was an amazing father and husband.’
Danielle Webb from County Antrim was married to 38-year-old Christopher for just four days in December 2022 when tragically she became a widow as a result of sepsis.
Leaving a three-year-old son, Adam, Christopher‘s illness had progressed rapidly within a 56 hour window, resulting in the terrible events of 19th December 2022. Danielle shares her account of losing her husband here.
On Wednesday 14th December 2022, the day before our wedding, Chris started to become unwell at around 6am with a sore throat and flu-like symptoms. It woke him from his sleep and he started complaining of a pins and needle sensation in his throat. We purchased some over the counter meds from the chemist to help alleviate what we thought was the start of a flu. Thursday 15th December was the day Chris and I got married. Chris still wasn’t feeling very well but he pushed through as best he could and made it to the end of the evening.
The morning after, on Friday 16th, he woke with a rattle in his chest and said that he felt very sleepy despite having slept all night. An ambulance was called and when they arrived the paramedics didn’t display any immediate concern. They said that they felt that a GP could probably see him but that, because they were already there, they would look after him. After working with him for around 30minutes in the back of the ambulance they then said that he was borderline septic and took him straight off to A&E at Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. About 40 minutes later the female paramedic called me and told me that Chris was in A&E being treated for sepsis that wasn’t deemed to be life threatening and that I should put a bag together for him as he was likely to be in hospital for a few days. But it was on my way to the hospital that his consultant called me and told me Chris was extremely ill and would need to be sedated and ventilated and taken to Intensive Care.
The doctors had told Chris at his bedside in A&E, in person, that he was very sick and would need to go off to sleep for a little while to help his body rest and heal. Chris was very calm when he was told this. He was always very good at staying calm in chaotic situations. He suffered with a severe allergy to an unknown food and had therefore suffered episodes of anaphylaxis in the past. He was always fantastic at staying calm in those situations and this was no exception. As a family we were terrified though – we were shocked and worried for Chris. We didn’t know what was going to happen and it was very scary.
Christopher was put on breathing apparatus, almost like a giant CPAP (a continuous positive airway pressure) machine. This was to force oxygen into his lungs as they had become saturated with pneumonia. He was also on IV antibiotics to fight infection, the oral antiviral TAMIFLU and was having his blood pressure, heart rate and O2 levels constantly monitored.
Despite all of this, Christopher’s condition hadn’t improved. The doctors were concerned about an abscess/swelling on his throat which had by this time been confirmed as a streptococcus A (strep A) infection. It was decided that he needed to be taken to ICU to be sedated and placed on a ventilator. There were no ICU beds left in the hospital at that stage in December though so an operating theatre was shut down and turned into an ICU unit to take care of him. We were told he had Toxic Shock Syndrome or that he had gone into septic shock. His lungs were failing because of the pneumonia and there was a super bug in his blood coming from the strep A infection. Christopher was very unstable during this time. On the Saturday morning he had gained some stability and was able to be transferred to Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast from Causeway Hospital. But his liver, and soon after his kidneys also started to fail. He was given medication to help the liver and was put on dialysis for his kidneys. He then had to be put on nitrous oxide to help his breathing and was also given medication to help his blood clot as it had stopped doing so by itself. He had cooling pads placed all over him to help bring his temperature down and was kept out of pain with pain meds this entire time.
At 7.40am on Monday 19th December 2022 Chris went into cardiac arrest and, despite the best efforts of the medical staff, Chris sadly passed almost 40 minutes later.
In sharing Chris’ story I hope that awareness is created around sepsis symptoms, how they can mimic flu, which can be deceptive, and the importance of getting treatment quickly. Hopefully his story will save a life and prevent another family from having to suffer the sort of tragedy that we have.
Chris was a very loving man who doted on his family. He loved life and being a daddy. His life really took on purpose when his son was born – he was an amazing father and husband to Adam and me. I would love him to be remembered for the amazing man he was: funny and kind and loved fiercely. He loved Liverpool FC and he loved the horses. He was at his happiest on a Saturday afternoon watching the match with his feet up!
So, my message would be: Live life! Life is so precious and too fragile to live it half-heartedly. We are so privileged to have life and we should live it to the fullest.
Be happy, be cautious and love deeply. Make every day count. Grief is a terrible road to walk and is a road you will never be able to get off. That doesn’t mean that the sun won’t shine for you and that you won’t find joy along the road. Chris was a huge character and loved me deeply. I let that love live on in me and Adam and I do the best I can, honouring and remembering Chris along the way.
Charity Comment
Danielle’s deeply moving story carries several important messages regarding awareness of sepsis – critical for early recognition and response.
From the onset of ‘flu-like’ symptoms, Danielle wants people to be aware just how quickly sepsis took hold. She highlights how rapidly symptoms can worsen and the potential importance of knowing those symptoms.
It is often difficult for even the best trained clinicians to recognise the point where symptoms have tipped over into life-threatening sepsis. It is therefore very important that patients, and those closest to them, are not afraid to re-present to a doctor or hospital if they have been sent home already but see no improvement or a rapid decline in someone’s condition. Above all, trust your instincts — if something feels worse than you would expect flu to, you should seek medical advice immediately.
You can read an account from Chris’ sister Francesca, remembering her brother, here.
We are so grateful to Danielle, Francesca and Chris’ whole family for sharing his story to raise awareness and prevent similarly tragic outcomes.