Patients & Family

Here you can find resources to help you or a loved one understand sepsis.

We are constantly adding new information, so please come back again to see what new features are available.

Diagnosed with Sepsis

You’re not alone

For anyone recently diagnosed with sepsis, this is the place to start. We cover the basics.

What Does it Mean

Faces of Sepsis

You’re not alone

Read stories from sepsis survivors and from people who have lost someone they love to sepsis. More than 1,000 stories cover the many types of infections that can cause sepsis, and the outcomes.

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Brett Dorsey

Survivor

I was always a healthy person – so when I developed bacterial pneumonia I wasn’t extremely concerned. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) I would take the antibiotics prescribed and be better in a few days. On day 3 of taking antibiotics at home everything changed. My wife (a nurse) couldn’t wake me up and noticed my hands were cold and blue. My heart was racing, I had extreme body pain, and all I could say was “I’m dying”. Luckily my wife recognized the symptoms of sepsis and took me to the hospital where I spent 15 days in the ICU. I suffered ... Read Full Story

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Steven Wirtz

Survivor, Survivor

My story about sepsis changed my life tremendously both financially and mentally. That day I was diagnosed with double phenomena and I went home and went to bed to sleep. (Sepsis and Pneumonia). During that same night, I woke up and went to seek help. While I was driving back home I was pulled over by a police officer for careless driving. As I was being interviewed and questioned, I was asked by the officer to perform a breathalyzer and not knowing at the time of sepsis, I had I couldn’t perform the breathalyzer and was arrested for failure and ... Read Full Story

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Taryna Widdicombe

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

After having a colonoscopy I was bleeding from my back passage. I told the doctor and he said it was perfectly normal. When I got home I had a really bad stomach pain. It felt as though my stomach had exploded. I then started feeling very cold. My husband gave me a hot water bottle and I went to bed. It was the middle of summer. I couldn’t settle and started feeling very sick, disorientated and I had no control of my functions. My husband called 999 an ambulance rushed me to hospital. I had a x-ray which showed I ... Read Full Story

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Marla Green

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

My journey began the end of Jan. 2020. We had recently moved to a new area, and really didn’t know our way around town much. After laying in bed sick and hurting in pain since, Thursday afternoon Jan. 31st, we called our doctor’s office first thing Friday morning to try to get in and be seen. We couldn’t see our new primary doctor because she was booked up solid, so I, was given the option to see another doctor we did not know in the same office, so they fit me in at the end of their day at 3:30 ... Read Full Story

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Kayla Ferrer

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

Kayla was admitted for hip pain then became septic due to osteomyelitis of the hip, which was also MRSA. Due to her asthma she got pneumonia. (Sepsis and MRSA, Sepsis and Pneumonia) Kayla was intubated two days after being admitted. Went into surgery to remove the infection but unfortunately her heart was failing she received two rounds of chest compressions and was placed on ECMO. Kayla was not getting any better her left lung was completely collapsed after a bronchoscopy that an RT recommended. From one day to another she showed so much improvement. After 7 days on ECMO she ... Read Full Story

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Faces of Sepsis
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What is Sepsis?
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Military & Veterans

Many of today’s life saving medical and surgical procedures were first discovered or refined by the military.

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Mental Health

Sepsis survivors and family members of people who have had sepsis may find themselves experiencing emotional and psychological challenges that can make it difficult to move forward.

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It’s About Time™

It’s About TIME™ is a national initiative to raise awareness of sepsis and the urgent need to seek treatment when symptoms are recognized.

Early detection is the best hope to survive and limit disabilities when sepsis is present.
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Erin’s Campaign for Kids

IN MEMORY OF ERIN BUG FLATLEY | 1978 – 2002

Erin’s Campaign for Kids aims to combat the high incidence and mortality rates of sepsis among children. The campaign creates awards and training programs for nurses and other health professionals to help identify and treat a disease that, by conservative estimates, causes over 18 child deaths per day or 6,800 child deaths in the United States every year, more than pediatric cancers.

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