David Ortiz
My name is Yadira and I lost my husband to a sepsis infection on December 21, 2013, 3 days before his 38th birthday. He was a Christmas Eve baby. The days prior to his death, our youngest son Josh came home from school with the flu. (Sepsis and Influenza) Two days later our oldest son Justin and my husband David got it too. Little did I know that in less than 72 hours, my husband of 19 years would be gone.
If I had only known what sepsis was and the signs associated with it, maybe I could have saved his life. I beat myself over dismissing it as a simple case of the flu.
When I took David to the ER, I was told he had pneumonia in both lungs. I attributed this of course to the flu, and perhaps the fact that he was a smoker, it hindered his lung capacity. Shortly after arriving at the ER, they put him into a medical coma because his kidneys had begun to fail. He was put on an emergency dialysis. At this point the doctors confirmed he had sepsis.
When I was being asked about what his wishes would’ve been, I thought I was stuck in a nightmare. I couldn’t believe that there was a possibility that my husband would die from catching the flu. He was always a healthy man, how can this be happening I questioned. After a 34-hour battle in the ICU, with his mother and myself at his side, David passed away. I couldn’t believe that the man I married when I was only 17 years old was gone. I had not only lost my husband, but my best friend, and the father of my children.
Source: by Yadira Torres-Ortiz (David's wife)
