A young mother lost both her feet and all 10 fingers to sepsis after a significant delay in treatment, an investigation has found.
Sadie Kemp has been left permanently disabled from the “dangerous condition”, whilst an NHS hospital probe found a 3.5 hour delay in starting her care.
Sadie is now calling for lessons to be learned after the internal report found numerous concerns in her treatment that ultimately led to her needing multiple amputations.
Sadie said: “All I can remember was being in absolute agony because of the pain and the next thing I’d woken up in intensive care.
“Even now after all these months, I’m still trying to get my head around what happened and why it did.
“From what the doctors have told me in some respects I’m lucky that I survived what I did but I’m also upset at what happened to me and how it will affect me.”
The 35-year-old mother-of-two first attended A&E with agonising back pain caused by a kidney stone on Christmas night 2021.
She was given pain relief at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Cambridgeshire, and sent home to return the following morning for a kidney scan.
She returned the same night at 4am as her pain endured.
An assessment at 5.40am found she may have also been suffering from sepsis, but the step-by-step guide to chart and treat the illness was not found in her notes as being done at the time.
Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection, in which a body overreacts to the infection and starts to attack itself.
Signs of sepsis include slurred speech, confusion, extreme shivering and muscle pain, passing no urine in a day, severe breathlessness and mottled or discoloured skin.
The North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust found that as Sadie’s condition deteriorated on Boxing Day, the step-by-step sepsis guide was eventually done and treatment started at 10pm.
The report confirms treatment should have started at 6.35pm. Becoming critically unwell, she was transferred to Peterborough City Hospital and underwent surgery to remove the kidney stone.
She spent two weeks on a life support machine.
The investigation found not only should the sepsis have been discovered and treated sooner, but the “lack of effective treatment” of the sepsis prior to the surgery meant she needed prolonged critical care.
The drugs needed to regulate her heart during this period caused her to develop gangrene in her fingers and toes needing “extensive amputation surgery.”
She is now seeking legal support through medical negligence lawyers Irwin Mitchell to help her access specialist lifetime care, support and therapies.
Sadie, who has two boys aged 17 and 2, said: “The last few months have been a real rollercoaster of emotions.
“The support I’ve had from my family and friends has given me real strength to try and face the future.
“While I wouldn’t wish what’s happened to me on anyone else, and it’s vital that lessons are learned, I also need to focus on what lies ahead.
“I want to be there for my kids, look after them and give them the best future I can.
“Making the best possible recovery and having access to the best support is key to that.”
Her 10 fingers were removed in May and she received two leg amputations from the ankle down at a private clinic, costing £18,000.
Her hope is the new type of surgery she received privately will allow for more of her legs to be saved, giving her a permanent prosthesis’ which become fused to the bones.
This treatment is not currently available on the NHS.
She said: “Sepsis is an absolutely horrendous condition and more has to be done to raise awareness of how dangerous it is. I just hope that by speaking out I can help others.”
Amie Minns, the lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Sadie, said: “The last few months and coming to terms with the life-changing consequences of Sadie’s sepsis have been incredibly difficult, not only for her but her family.
“She still faces an uncertain future and will need follow-up surgeries in the coming months.
“Understandably Sadie has had a number of concerns about what happened to her with the Hospital Trust’s investigation report finding extremely worrying issues in her care.
“We continue to investigate on Sadie’s behalf to provide her with all the answers she deserves.
“We call on the Hospital Trust to work with us to resolve these concerns as quickly as possible.”
