Woman diagnosed with common UTI...now she's had to have all 4 limbs amputated because of little-known infection complication
A mother-of-two has urged people to learn the warning signs of sepsis after losing four of her limbs following a common infection.
Kim Smith, 63, from Milton Keynes, was left with blackened legs, feet and hands that needed to be amputated after a life-threatening ordeal left her in a coma for months.
In 2018, Mrs Smith was on holiday in Alicante, Spain with her husband Steve when she developed a urinary tract infection (UTI).
A UTI is a common infection where bacteria infiltrates parts of the body like the bladder, kidneys and urethra, causing a burning sensation when urinating.
Familiar with the common symptoms of a UTI—including needing to urinate more often and lower abdominal pain—Mrs Smith went to the doctors who prescribed her antibiotics.
But the pharmacist did not have her prescription available for collection that day, so the couple returned to their hotel, where Mrs Smith's condition quickly deteriorated.
'I woke up at 4am and I thought I was going to die,' she said in a TikTok video that has so far garnered over 793,000 views.
'I had severe breathlessness, slurred speech and confusion. I was really really cold. I had a fever and I was shivering like mad,' she added.
Her husband rushed her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with severe sepsis and put into a medically induced coma on November 29th.
Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection, which occurs when the body's immune system overreacts to an infection—like a UTI—and attacks its own tissue and organs.
By the next day, her hands had already turned purple.
'Spain had told my daughters that I had black digits, that's fingers and toes', Mrs Smith recalled.
'My arms were black up to [my elbows]'.
Eventually, after six weeks on life support, Mrs Smith was flown back to the UK, to Milton Keynes University Hospital, via air ambulance.
There, after three weeks back in the UK, Mrs Smith was gradually brought out from her coma.
'When I woke up, I could actually see that my hands and legs were black, so I knew that they would have to be amputated', she remembers.
Mrs Smith then underwent life-changing surgery to amputate her hands and legs above the knee.
Once she recovered from the quadruple amputation, the grandmother spent 12 weeks in physical rehabilitation, where she regained her strength and learnt to live without her limbs.
Now, Mrs Smith wants to raise awareness for the little-known risk associated with common UTIs.
'I want to tell you, if you need to go pee, go pee. Don't hold it—that could cause you to get an infection and that could develop into sepsis,' she said.
'The symptoms are severe breathlessness, slurred speech and confusion-I had that-I didn't pass much urine that day and I had a fever but I was really cold.'
'If you get anything like that, if you feel unusually unwell and you know something is not right, please please please advocate for yourself,' Mrs Smith urged her followers.
'Tell [doctors] something is not right and ask them to test you for sepsis.
'Ask for a second opinion if you have to. Do not leave if you feel something is wrong.'
UTIs affect the urinary tract, which includes the bladder, the urethra and the kidneys.
According to the NHS, common symptoms include pain or a burning sensation when peeing, needing to pass urine more often than usual, and cloudy looking urine––which can also be a sign of dehydration.
Some people may also experience lower abdominal or back pain, as well as a high temperature, chills or and a really low temperature below 36C.
These more severe symptoms could indicate a kidney infection, which can be serious if left untreated, developing into life-threatening sepsis.
Up to 1.7million people in the UK suffer from recurrent UTIs—classed as three or more infections a year.
Around half of all women will experience a UTI in their life time.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), sepsis kills 11 million people globally each year, while in the UK the infection claims around 48,000 lives.
People who suffer septic shock can develop small blood clots, which cut-off life-giving oxygen flow to the extremities.
The tissue then begins to die, and the skin turns black. However, if there is still enough healthy tissue, doctors may try to first remove the dead tissue—known as debriding.
If this treatment doesn't work, amputation is the next step.
UTIs are one of the most common causes of sepsis, dubbed the 'silent killer' because its symptoms can overlap with other conditions like the flu.
However, as Mrs Smith warns, knowing the symptoms of sepsis could save your life.
Tell-tale signs of sepsis in adults include appearing confused, slurred speech or not making sense, blue, grey or blotchy skin and difficulty breathing.
According to the NHS, a rash that doesn't fade when your roll a glass over it could be a tell-tale sign of the condition, as well as having a pale and blotchy appearance that is cold and clammy to the touch.
Sepsis affected skin may also develop pinprick bruises or large purple areas that can also turn blue, a sign the body is not getting enough oxygen.
Producing less urine than usual, for example not urinating for an entire day, is another potential sign of serious sepsis.
This is in part because a decrease in blood pressure caused by sepsis, as well as an increased risk of blood clots, can reduce blood supply to organs like the kidneys, which produce urine, impacting their function.
As the kidneys can be some of the first organs to start showing signs of reduced function due to sepsis, reduced urine production is considered a potential sign of the condition.
The NHS advises anyone who experiences these symptoms to call 999 or go to A&E immediately.
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