Kimberley’s Sepsis Story

Kimberley contracted sepsis in April 2019 after taking unwell following a family walk with husband Nathan on Easter Weekend. 

“We had enjoyed a lovely walk along the beach and, for Easter weekend, the weather was really lovely. We came home in the early evening and started making the tea”. It was then that Kimberley, 41 from Edinburgh, started to display one of the classic symptoms of Sepsis:  “I felt very cold and shivery and assumed that I’d maybe got too much sun”.

Kimberley started to feel progressively worse as the night went on. She says “An hour or so later I started to vomit.  I decided to go to bed and see how I felt in the morning.  Nathan came in to check on me a while later and I was worse.  He was asking me questions and I was unable to speak.  I was scared and thought I was having a stroke.” It was at this point that Nathan called for an ambulance.

“I vaguely recall being put into the ambulance and then I was being told that it was eight days later and I had been in an induced coma.  I had contracted meningococcal septicemia which had developed into sepsis with all my organs shutting down”.  

Kimberley was told of her diagnosis by a doctor in the ICU once she had been extubated. She says “I was shocked at how fast things happened and hearing how close I came to dying”. 

It was a very difficult time for Kimberley’s husband Nathan and her daughter Lucy, 16. “My daughter and husband both needed to be vaccinated,” explains Kimberley. “It was scary and emotional for them both.  More so than for me as I was oblivious to it all”. 

Kimberley was only three weeks into a new job when she became ill and, when she wasn’t back within a month, her contract was terminated. Her employer told her she could reapply once she was well again. 

The treatment took place at home and at the Royal Infirmary consisting of dialysis for her kidneys, which have now fully recovered, and dressings on her hands, feet, and nose for the necrotic tissue. She says, “the wounds were dressed for a year as my toes auto-amputated. I then had surgery to amputate the three final toes”.  

Over two years on, Kimberley is still receiving treatment and may need additional tissue on her feet removed as it is continuing to turn necrotic. On the continuity of treatment she says, “ I feel like it will never end at times but hopefully, more surgery will sort it out”. Her husband and daughter have been a huge support to Kimberley during treatment and recovery. 

Like many, Kimberley wasn’t aware of sepsis prior to her diagnosis but encourages people to let someone know if they are feeling ill, “trust your own instincts and if you are feeling ill, be sure that you let someone know. If my husband hadn’t checked on me through the night, I wouldn’t have survived until the morning”.

Listen to Kimberley speak firsthand about her experience on her Words of Sepsis podcast here