‘Sepsis can affect anyone not just the elderly; it seems to be a misconception that young fit people won’t get sepsis. You can. I did. I survived.’
So says Paul Coulson, a 40 year old farmer from Northumberland, of the shocking way that sepsis struck him and his young family out of the blue in March 2022. Despite still suffering the after-effects some 17 months later, Paul says that he is grateful to be here to tell his story and to raise awareness of sepsis.
A farmer since 1999, mainly breeding pedigree sheep on the family farm in the North Pennines, Paul was involved with health and fitness in his youth. He also raced motocross whilst enjoying what he describes as ‘a hectic social life.’ In recent years he has spent most of his time with his wife Kirsty and three children aged between 4 and 9.
In 2018 Paul and Kirsty decided to develop the farm’s stone barns into holiday cottages. Their aim was to make the farm more sustainable and to provide extra income alongside the farming enterprise. Having been very ill with meningitis in 2015, Paul felt that the holiday cottages would provide an alternative form of revenue if his health deteriorated and manual work became too demanding.
It was on a Saturday morning in late March 2022, when he and Kirsty were out with their children, that Paul began to experience discomfort passing urine. He had been planning to attend a friend’s 40th birthday party that night but started to feel so unwell that later that evening he took himself to the local hospital in Hexham. Staff there tested a sample of Paul’s urine and confirmed that he had a urinary tract infection (UTI). They told Paul that if his temperature became much higher or he started to feel increasingly unwell he should immediately go to A&E in Newcastle.
During the early hours of Sunday morning Paul’s condition rapidly deteriorated as he began to shiver, vomit and sweat profusely. After about an hour his wife Kirsty called for an ambulance. A paramedic arrived and said that he thought Paul was suffering from either sepsis or meningitis. He administered fluids and anti-sickness medication. As he was a first responder he called for an ambulance to take Paul to the Royal Victoria Infirmary(RVI) in Newcastle. However, the call handler told him it would be a five hour wait before an ambulance could make it out to the couple’s remote rural home. Concerned, the paramedic explained to Paul and Kirsty that he felt it was imperative to get Paul to Newcastle as quickly as possible and that his advice would be for Kirsty to drive him there. With Paul at that point feeling too unwell to travel alone with Kirsty, the paramedic stabilised him and the couple were then able to set off.
Once at the RVI, doctors quickly put Paul on a drip and administered strong antibiotics whilst they waited for test results. A short while later they decided to admit Paul to a ward for treatment.
That Sunday evening Paul asked his consultant whether he felt it was possible that Paul might develop sepsis, at which point the consultant told him that he already had sepsis. Paul describes his reaction as one of surprise, shock and worry. It transpired that Kirsty – having seen how unwell her husband was – already had an inkling that it was sepsis he was suffering from. She and Paul’s wider family were nevertheless very concerned. The couple took the difficult decision that in order to keep things as normal as possible for them they would not tell their three young children that Paul was in hospital.
Paul spent a week as an inpatient at RVI, receiving a course of IV antibiotics, and was then discharged with a further course of oral antibiotics to take at home. He says that when he left hospital he was hopeful that things would improve, but that he continued to feel extremely unwell for some time. With no appetite and continuing to sweat – especially at night – he also found himself barely able to walk. ‘I felt like I’d been hit by a bus,’ he recalls. As the weeks went on and frustrated by a lack of recovery, Paul made repeat visits to his GP. After months of doctor’s appointments and tests he was diagnosed with post sepsis chronic fatigue and chronic migraines (severe headache having been an ongoing issue following he contracted meningitis in 2015.)’Unfortunately the infection had really taken its toll on my body,’ explains Paul. ‘I still haven’t recovered fully, and I continue to need medication to manage the pain – I’ve been unwell now for 17 months. Without any real treatment for the post sepsis condition, it’s just something I have to manage and live with. Thankfully I’m still here though.’
Paul describes his family as ‘the best treatment I could ask for.’ Wife Kirsty has been extremely busy keeping the family business going and looking after the couple’s three children. Paul’s father, although elderly, has helped watch over the farm. ‘We just count our blessings that it wasn’t a worse outcome, says Paul. ‘When I was diagnosed I was scared and really anxious of the unknown. You hear about sepsis but you don’t expect to be running around one day with the kids and seriously ill in hospital 24 hours later. Thankfully the brilliant team at Newcastle’s RVI diagnosed and treated me really quickly and got me home to my family.’
Paul says that he dreads ever having sepsis again and describes it as ‘without doubt the worst experience of my life. I have never felt so unwell.’ He says that, despite not having the energy and health he would wish for, he is so grateful to have survived. ‘I have to tell myself that when I feel down; as anyone with a chronic disease can tell you it’s a really hard slog just getting through each day.
‘Sepsis Research FEAT reached out to me after reading an article about The Gin & Thresher – a new holiday cottage that we were developing while I was ill. It’s great to have a team there to provide information about an illness that everyone hears about but never thinks they’ll contract. I’ve learnt a lot from the whole sepsis experience and I hope my story can be of benefit to others who have recently had sepsis or family members who see their loved ones going through the same ordeal. Sometimes it just helps to know you’re not alone.’
Paul goes on to say that if he had to share just one message with others it would be this: ‘If there’s any doubt don’t delay, get to hospital. Time is your enemy. Sepsis can affect anyone not just the elderly; it seems to be a misconception that young fit people won’t get sepsis. You can. I did. I survived.’