I felt under the weather & went to bed to sleep off common bug… but I was 48 HOURS from death – don’t ignore signs

WHEN feeling under the weather, most of us head to bed early. So after a couple of days of feeling rough, with what started as backache, Abigail Webb tried to “sleep it off”. While Abigail Webb didn’t feel great, it was ‘nothing horrendous’ and she initially tried to sleep off Credit: Supplied The 28-year-old PhD student noticed a backache while at the stables after class Credit: Supplied “I am the kind of person that tries to avoid going to doctors and hospitals if I can,” the 28-year-old admits. “More so because I always think there’s someone else that needs help more than I do, so I’m like, ‘I’ll be fine. I’ll just sleep it off’.” But when she woke up, she collapsed twice and suddenly, something shifted. Abigail, who lived alone in a flat, felt clammy as her temperature rose. But within 48 hours, Abigail was in hospital – fighting for her life with sepsis Credit: Supplied ‘It literally went from zero to 100,’ says Abigail, who was hiking and horse riding just days before Credit: Supplied She started being sick, unable to even keep down water, and her family told her to call 111. “That point onwards is a bit of a blur,” she says. “The symptoms got progressively worse, I just felt really, really unwell.” Within 48 hours of her first symptoms, she was fighting for her life in hospital with sepsis, triggered by a urine infection (UTI). Without rapid treatment, it can lead to organ failure and death. Abigail, from Sedgley, West Midlands, says: “Doctors said that if I’d have gone to hospital any later, it could have been a very different outcome. “That was probably the biggest shock, and I was like, ‘OK, this is serious’. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to share my story, because it went from thinking I was okay to potentially costing me my life.” When 'feeling under the weather' could be sepsis Sepsis can be hard to recognise and diagnose, as symptoms can manifest in many different ways. The key symptoms to look out for are: A high or low temperature Uncontrolled shivering Confusion Passing little urine Blotchy or cold arms and legs Fast, or difficulty in, breathing Rapid heartbeat Extreme pain or discomfort Feeling dizzy or faint Mottled or discoloured skin Dr Conway Morris says: “On their own, some of these symptoms can be an indication of other health problems. “Someone with sepsis might also not show all of these symptoms at once. “A combination of two or more symptoms, becoming progressively worse, means medical attention is needed and sufferers should call 999 or go to A&E.” Abigail knew a bit about sepsis before her own diagnosis, but assumed she was “not the kind of person that would get [it]” as she was “fit and healthy” and didn’t have any health concerns. But it can strike anyone, and as the new university term starts, Abigail wants young people, who may be living away from home for the first time, to take worrying symptoms seriously and not delay seeking help. Sepsis can develop from various bugs – in Abigail’s case, a UTI, but flu, tummy bugs, meningitis, pneumonia or even an infected cut are common culprits. Rather than fighting the infection, the immune system attacks the body instead – and experts don’t know why. Stress, sleepless nights and drinking – as well as shared accommodation – can put students at higher risk of infections that can turn into sepsis. Symptoms, such as nausea, chills or muscle aches, can be generic, sometimes making them hard to spot. But Dr Andrew Conway Morris, Charity Medical Director at the Sepsis Research, says “feeling more unwell than one has ever felt before” is a key sign of sepsis. At this time of year, students are warned not to mistake their symptoms for a hangover. Abigail pictured with her sisters Charlotte and Georgie Credit: Supplied She wants other students to be aware of sepsis symptoms – and to be prepared to ask for help Credit: Supplied Colin Graham, Chief Operating Officer at the charity, tells Sun Health: “With so much else going on, our feeling is that students are particularly likely to brush off ‘mild’ health concerns, especially during freshers’ week. “But if you’re too ill to Google what’s wrong, that’s the moment to call someone. “We want students to be confident speaking up and for flatmates or friends to know when to step in too.” He says even if you are fit and healthy and develop Freshers’ Flu – a generic term for common bugs that spread among university students in September – you “could be at risk of developing sepsis”. “If you or your friends are feeling unusually unwell and experiencing any of the symptoms of sepsis, do not brush off how you’re feeling as a hangover or just ‘one of those things’,” he says. “Recognising sepsis early and acting quickly saves lives.” Around 245,000 people develop sepsis each year in the UK, and around 50,000 of those lose their lives. Abigail says: “I don’t think there’s enough awareness of it and how serious it can be. Abigail used to avoid going to the doctor, thinking others would need more help than her Credit: Supplied But it could have been a very different outcome if she hadn’t heeded her family’s advice on calling NHS 111 when she collapsed at home Credit: Supplied “I think a lot of the perception is that you wouldn’t get [sepsis] unless you’re really unwell before, whereas in my case, it literally went from zero to 100 in a couple of days. “I was fine, literally horse riding, hiking and running days before.” Abigail, who’s completing a PhD in parasitology at Aberystwyth University, was at the horse stables after her uni class when she noticed symptoms on August 8, 2024. She had back pain but didn’t think much of it, assuming she may have pulled a muscle. The pain intensified that night, worsening from an ache to a cramping feeling. “The next day, I didn’t feel great, but nothing horrendous,” Abigail, then 26, recalls. “I could still move around and do everything.” Having decided to study from home, she noticed that she felt increasingly off throughout the day. In hospital, Abigail grew worried when her body at first failed to respond to antibiotics Credit: Supplied Normally fit and active, it took her weeks to feel back to normal after being discharged Credit: Supplied Abigail says: “I lost my appetite. I was really restless. I couldn’t get comfortable. I started to get a temperature.” But she continued to assume she was just “under the weather” and went to bed. On August 10, after a restless night, Abigail got up to go to the bathroom and collapsed. She says: “I don’t remember it apart from waking up on the floor. “I still, to this day, don’t know how long I was unconscious for. “All I know is that I bashed both my legs up, because my hallway was quite narrow. “When I woke up, both my legs were bleeding.” Upon regaining consciousness, Abigail knew something must be seriously wrong, as she’d never fainted before. She managed to make it back to her room, but collapsed again – she doesn’t know how long for. After calling NHS 111, Abigail was advised to go to hospital, so she was driven to the A&E department of Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth by friends. She was admitted straight away, and told she had sepsis – but remained optimistic that she’d be discharged soon. “They gave me some fluids and I started to perk up a bit,” Abigail explains. “I remember saying to my parents and my partner, ‘It’s fine, I’ll be out of hospital tomorrow’.” However, as doctors confirmed a UTI, tests also revealed it had spread to her kidneys, where she had two abscesses. Urosepsis is a subtype of sepsis that starts from a UTI, causing roughly 25 per cent of sepsis cases, according to Sepsis Research. “I just remember the doctors coming to me and saying that I’d tested positive for basically every infection marker they have,” Abigail says. Abigail stayed in hospital for nearly two weeks as her body failed to respond to the antibiotics given to her. One side of her heart struggled and she had arrhythmias (improper beats of the heart), which gave her chest pain. Abigail, who was conscious throughout, says: “I was getting worse as opposed to getting better following the antibiotics. “I was trying to be optimistic, but it was quite scary. And then seeing my family and partner scared was scary. “I’m a bit of a people pleaser, so I don’t want to worry other people, and I was then panicking because everyone [was] really worried.” Doctors considered surgery to drain the abscesses in Abigail’s kidneys, before finally finding an antibiotic she responded to. When she was finally allowed back home, it was a few weeks before she felt like her normal self, as she grappled with weakness, exhaustion and lack of appetite. It can take people weeks or months to fully recover from sepsis, and they may need more treatment if they’ve suffered major organ damage. Up to 50 per cent of people can get post-sepsis syndrome, which can cause lingering physical symptoms like fatigue, trouble sleeping, joint pain and repeat infections, as well as psychological symptoms like mood swings, anxiety, flashbacks and difficulty concentrating. When Abigail developed another UTI in November, she was terrified she’d get sepsis again. “Before I would have just been like, ‘Oh no, it’s fine, it’ll pass. “But at that point, I was scared, thinking, ‘What if this goes back to how it was before, I don’t want to end up back in hospital again’.” Thankfully, oral antibiotics took care of the infection. Now, Abigail says she views her health completely differently. She says: “It’s definitely made me more aware of how quickly things can become an emergency and that it’s okay to ask for help. “In that instance, if I had listened to myself and not listened to other people [her family], it could have been fatal. “It can be scary going to uni for the first time or living away from home, or maybe you don’t have parents or guardians looking out for you and you’re exposed to a lot of new things, a lot of new people. “You need to be aware that you can ask for help. Sometimes you are going to need it.” Anything that’s “out of the norm for you” should be a red flag, Abigail warns. “For example, I’d never collapsed,” she notes. “So when that happened, I knew this was something different.” Looking back on her experience, Abigail says: “I was so lucky that it wasn’t a worse outcome. “If talking about it helps one person get help, then it’s worth it.”