Sepsis sufferer warns others to look up symptoms

Al Sylvester, who was a keen marathon competitor at the time of his health scare, is competing again

A man who found himself critically ill in intensive care with sepsis has urged people to research the condition.

Al Sylvester, from Faringdon, Oxfordshire, originally thought he had the flu when he became ill during a run, but 48 hours later was fighting for his life.

Speaking during Sepsis Awareness Month, he said: "Just spend five minutes of your time... Google signs and symptoms of sepsis. You don’t know when it’s going to hit."

Mr Sylvester, who was a keen marathon competitor in 2017 at the time of his health scare, is now competing again.

He served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) for 31 years, mainly as a team leader within the RAF Mountain Rescue Service, and had been training to complete a 100 mile non-stop run.

But after a 20-mile run he found himself with a cough and symptoms of a cold. Over the next few days it got worse and his temperature skyrocketed.

"I was absolutely pouring out," he told the BBC. "[My wife] said it was like lying next to a swimming pool."

His wife Clare called an ambulance but the first responder was unable to administer a line into his veins.

He recalled: "Immediately the two paramedics came in and said ‘we’re going to get you into hospital. We think you’ve got sepsis.’"

Mr Sylvester was admitted to the intensive care unit at Great Western Hospital in Swindon where the respiratory team inserted a "very painful" cannula via his radial artery.

"The infection was starting to fight my own white blood cells so I was dying, simple as that," he said.

'Difficult to diagnose'

Mr Sylvester spent 18 days in hospital, during which time medical staff cultivated 25 blood tests.

They never did find out the source of the infection, and he was discharged two days before Christmas.

Six months later he was ready to start on a new fitness programme, and a year later he completed a 52-mile ultramarathon. He has run several more since, including the Wiltshire Whitehorse 100-miler.

Unfortunately he did not escape sepsis scot free. The former warrant officer has been left with a respiratory issue which makes him often cough violently and vomit on his marathons.

But he said: "There are a lot of people who haven’t been as lucky as I am. I’m one of the lucky ones."

Dr Andrew Conway Morris, medical director for the charity Sepsis Research FEAT, said: "Sepsis takes more lives in the UK every year than breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined.

"That’s circa 250,000 cases per year, roughly one every 12 minutes and can be incredibly difficult to diagnose due to its symptoms overlapping with those of other common illnesses.

"That's why it's so crucial for individuals to be aware of the signs and symptoms of sepsis and to seek medical attention immediately if they feel unwell, even if they have already sought care and were sent home."

Sepsis symptoms can include:

• Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense

• Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue (on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet)

• A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis

• Difficulty breathing, breathlessness, or breathing very fast

Source: NHS