Maidenhead sepsis survivor to run Reading Half Marathon
Four years ago Emily Perry nearly died after becoming seriously ill with the infection
Last updated 16th Mar 2023
A woman from Berkshire who became critically ill with sepsis is running this year's Reading Half Marathon to raise awareness of the condition.
Sepsis takes the lives of approximately five people every hour in the UK. It occurs when the body’s response to an infection spirals rapidly out of control, injuring its own tissues and organs which can result in multiple organ failure and death.
Emily Perry from Maidenhead is running the Reading Half Marathon in April to fundraise for Sepsis Research FEAT and to raise awareness of this life-threatening condition.
Sepsis Research FEAT is the only UK charity dedicated to supporting research to help identify treatments for sepsis, while also working to raise awareness of this devastating condition.
Emily's Story
Three weeks after the birth of her second daughter in 2019, 35 year old Emily Perry from Maidenhead, Berkshire became seriously ill with sepsis. Emily said:
“I felt very unwell. I’d not felt right for a week but assumed it was due to a complicated birth. I had an emergency caesarean section with complications due to my placenta being embedded in my uterus wall. I had received a large transfusion during the emergency surgery following the birth. I felt a bit like I had flu but very suddenly my condition deteriorated. My younger sister, Abi, was living with us at the time to help with the new arrival and she called 111. Part way through the call she realised I needed an ambulance and called 999. My temperature was over 42 degrees when they arrived and I genuinely thought I was dying, the shivering was uncontrollable, and I couldn’t move my hands and feet. I was taken into hospital and my sister was left alone with my three week old and my 20 month old”
The diagnosis of sepsis came the next morning in hospital and Emily describes her feelings on hearing the news as ones of shock. She had thought that she perhaps had internal bleeding from her surgery, but says that whilst she knew that it was very serious she didn’t really know what sepsis was at that point.
Emily says, “It was very stressful and difficult for my husband Steve. He had worried about losing me during the birth so for this to happen only 3 weeks later was very hard. My sister was quite traumatised by the experience and diagnosis. If she hadn’t been there when it happened then it could have been a different story.”
Emily stayed in the post-natal ward of Wexham Park Hospital in Slough whilst she was being treated, receiving IV antibiotics and paracetamol every few hours. It took a few days before staff were able to identify an antibiotic that the infection would respond to and for those antibiotics to start working. She had 8 cannulas in her arms and hands, all the while continuing to exclusively breastfeed her newborn baby daughter. Emily says that the care that she received at Wexham Park was fantastic though and that she will be eternally grateful to the staff there and also the South Central Ambulance Service for saving her life.
Emily remained in hospital for just under a week. Post-discharge she continued on a course of antibiotics, as well as Fragmin injections (a form of Heparin used to reduce the risk of a stroke or heart attack). She also received check-ups from her GP.
She continued to receive ongoing treatment and surgery for the retained placenta for over a year after Tori’s birth and says that she struggled immensely with health-related anxiety and PTSD, but says that receiving counselling/treatment for this helped a lot. She also underwent EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy to help her deal with specific moments of trauma.
Emily’s sister Abi stayed with the family for much longer than initially planned and Emily says that she is forever grateful to her sister for putting her life on hold to help Emily recover. “She kept me going!,” says Emily. “For me, walking was often the best medicine and taking time to build my confidence in my health again. I still find it very hard not to panic when either myself or my daughters get a high temperature or illness and not to jump to conclusions that it is something more serious. Living on a high state of alert for many months left me exhausted and I felt I lost a huge part of myself and became very low.”
Emily says that a silver-lining of the COVID-19 lockdowns were that they gave her the space and time to start to recover both mentally and physically and removed the pressure to carry on life as normal. “Life became much simpler and I felt that I could cope again!,” she says.
The source infection of Emily’s sepsis (e-coli) was identified fairly quickly but the cause of that never was. As a direct result of her illness, Emily went on to take a role in NHS recruitment. A keen gardener in her spare time, she also enjoys travel with husband Steve and daughters Harriet and Tori, now 4 and 3. She says that she is glad now to have no lasting effects from the illness, other than traumatic memories and describes herself as over cautious when it comes to those around her being unwell.
She has a message for other new mothers though, encouraging them, “Not to assume that feeling unwell after having a child is simply a result of the birth. Pregnant and post-natal women (particularly post c-section) are in a top risk category for sepsis and you could very easily dismiss the symptoms as I did, until it became much more serious.”
You can support Emily on her run here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/emily-perry21
To find out more about the charity: https://sepsisresearch.org.uk/