'It happened so quickly'
A woman, seeking to educate people about sepsis, has been supporting to those affected by the life-threatening illness since June of last year.
A nurse by profession, Cathriona Cahill is one of three Sepsis Warriors who took their campaign to Dáil Eireann last week to highlight the need for better diagnostic equipment in acute hospital facilities across the country.
Seven years ago, Cathriona lost her mother to sepsis and since has become determined to inform people about the disease. Something she is particularly keen on sharing is how quickly sepsis can take over your body, something she unfortunately knows after her own mother passed away just two days after her symptoms first began.
Her mum had just turned sixty, she was a “fit lady” who was looking forward to all the opportunities that come with being in your 60s.
On Thursday February 8, 2018, Angela passed away after contracting sepsis. The previous Tuesday, just two days before, Angela developed flu-like symptoms.
“As we all would do when we have a cold or flu, we take paracetamol and she had her 7up and everything by her bed.”
Her mother was in bed “all day” on Wednesday, however “wouldn’t” go to the doctor as she wanted to “see how she was” the next day. Her sister Helen went to take care of her during the night.
A nurse at Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan, Cathriona was at work the following morning when she received a phone call from Helen to say that a rash had developed on their mother’s face.
“She sent me a picture and it was all mottled, like purple spots on her face.”
They called an ambulance “straight away”.
“At this stage she was up and about, she didn’t want the ambulance, she wasn’t confused. She did not want an ambulance to be phoned. All she was worrying about was her hair, she was fixing her hair, looking in the mirror in the bathroom. She put pyjamas in a hospital bag and everything,” Cathriona recalled.
The paramedics arrived to their Virginia home, when Angela was “still alert”. The family followed the ambulance to the hospital, where they described “pandemonium” in the A&E department.
A nurse informed Cathriona that her mum, who was checking her hair in the mirror only and hour before, was “very very sick” and advised her “to start phoning family members”.
“By the time she reached the A&E, all her organs had started to fail,” said Cathriona, who was in tears recalling seeing her mother for the first time since she was brought in by ambulance.
“They had the oxygen but she was very confused at this stage.
“They did everything they could,” acknowledged Cathriona.
Later that afternoon, the family were told that Angela would need to be ventilated.
“So that’s what they did. We knew at that stage that she was gone,” said Cathriona tearfully.
“They were only ventilating her because it happened so quickly and probably for everyone to say goodbye.”
Angela was ventilated at 4pm, with the machine switched off two hours later.
“For me, sepsis awareness is so paramount because it happened so quickly.
“Not in our wildest dreams did we ever imagine that she would have died. She didn’t show any signs of sepsis,” Cathriona recalled.
X-rays revealed that her mum did have a chest infection, with pneumococcal bacteria, which is where the sepsis stemmed from.
“It was just too late for her.”
Memorial walk
In their mother’s memory, the family organised a “huge walk” on her one-year anniversary to raise funds and awareness on the life-threatening illness. They donated €7,000 to Cavan General Hospital for sepsis education.
In search of “something to start” to help other people, Cathriona contacted the Irish Sepsis Foundation and founded the Sepsis Support and Awareness group in Virginia last June.
“There was no support for us as a family when my mother died. A lot of people didn’t even know about sepsis or anything like that.
“It’s just for families and friends of families who come and just chat about their experience. We have a cup of tea, I did a little bit of sepsis education for anyone that wants it.”
The Sepsis Warriors, made up of Cathriona along with Sinead O’Reilly and Hannah Tormey, are doing talks locally and are willing to call out to any community group or school to speak. If you are interested, you can contact Cathriona on 086-1980692. The next meeting of the Sepsis Support and Awareness Group in Virginia will take place on April 24.
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