Student, 19, almost dies from the silent killer sepsis

Student, 19, almost dies from sepsis on the day she was supposed to leave home to start her chemistry degree at university

• Olivia Young was rushed to hospital after having stabbing pains in her stomach 
• A&E doctors soon discovered she had sepsis – often branded the ‘silent killer’ 
• Miss Young has since recovered after she  13 days in hospital fighting for her life

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Olivia Young, 19, spent 13 days in hospital fighting for her life with sepsis

A student almost died from sepsis on the day she was supposed to leave home to start her chemistry degree at university.

Olivia Young, 19, from Hull, was rushed to hospital after having stabbing pains in her stomach, a severe headache, fainting and vomiting.

A&E doctors soon discovered she had sepsis – often branded the ‘silent killer’  because its early symptoms can be easily confused with more mild conditions.

Miss Young, who has since recovered, spent 13 days in hospital fighting for her life before she was finally allowed to return home. She started her course at the University of Manchester six weeks late.

Recalling her terrifying ordeal last year, she said: ‘If I had gone to university that day, I don’t think I would have been here.’ 

Sepsis strikes when an infection such as blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response in which the body attacks its own organs.

It is the leading cause of avoidable death, killing at least 44,000 a year, and the Daily Mail has long campaigned for more awareness. 

Coronation Street featured sepsis in an episode in July after character Jack Webster had his foot amputated to save his life from the illness. 

Miss Young felt freezing cold on the day she was due to move to Manchester to begin her degree. But her boyfriend told she was burning up. 

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She was meant to take her younger sister to dance class – but because she was poorly she had to ask her grandmother to take her instead.

Miss Young’s temperature was 40°C – higher than the 38°C threshold for a fever – and she had the ‘worst headache ache’.

Her family thought she had experienced a reaction to the meningitis vaccine she had been given only days before.

Recalling her terrifying ordeal last year, she said: ‘If I had gone to university that day, I don’t think I would have been here’

But when her mother called 111 and described her symptoms, an ambulance was dispatched immediately to take her to Hull Royal Infirmary.

A&E staff initially suspected she had a blood clot – but they soon realised she had sepsis and dosed her up with antibiotics in her veins.

Miss Young said: ‘When I was in the hospital to begin with, I couldn’t move by myself due to the agonising pain that was all over my body.

‘It felt like I was being stabbed and my dad needed to pick me up to sit me up when family came to visit.’

Miss Young spent 13 days in hospital before she was allowed home and started her degree.

Although she was six weeks behind the rest of the course, she passed her first year with flying colours and is now about to start her second year.

Now fully recovered, Miss Young will be one of the guest speakers at a conference organised by the Sepsis Team at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. 

WHAT IS SEPSIS?

Sepsis, known as the ‘silent killer’, strikes when an infection such as blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response in which the body attacks its own organs.

It is the leading cause of avoidable death, killing at least 44,000 a year, and the Daily Mail has long campaigned for more awareness.

If caught early, the infection can be controlled by antibiotics before the body goes into overdrive – ultimately leading to death within a matter of minutes.

But the early symptoms of sepsis can be easily confused with more mild conditions, meaning it can be difficult to diagnose. 

Sepsis has similar symptoms to flu, gastroenteritis and a chest infection.

These include:

• Slurred speech or confusion
• Extreme shivering or muscle pain
• Passing no urine in a day
• Severe breathlessness
• It feels like you are dying
• Skin mottled or discoloured

Symptoms in children are:

• Fast breathing
• Fits or convulsions
• Mottled, bluish or pale skin
• Rashes that do not fade when pressed
• Lethargy
• Feeling abnormally cold

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