Chris Owen

Hi – Im from Perth, Western Australia. I have no idea how I contracted sepsis. Didn’t feel unwell at all. I took the dog for a walk and collapsed in the park. Police and ambulance found me under a tree (doggo stayed with me!) and took me to hospital. No diagnoses. I was unconscious, delirious and intubated and in ICU with worried family all around me. Doctors diagnosed sepsis and I was put in isolation in a ward and had IV antibiotics, which saved my life.

I seriously don’t remember a thing. I had open heart surgery for faulty heart valve at he same time – don’t remember that at all either except a doctor telling me this might be and end-of-life (EOL) moment. I was delusional my wife tells me – thinking I was selling rare books to the Russian mafia (!), trying to organise an escape from hospital (despite not knowing where I was), pretending to be French, sitting on a table nude with doctors all around me, a nurse getting annoyed with me for pulling the endless beeping machines over, and a myriad of other very strange visions. Not dreams but visions.

After a month, gradually I got better and returned to reality but walking or going to the toilet or the bathroom was impossible. But I was fortunate I was unscathed in the end (besides having to learn to walk again) an outcome many sepsis sufferers don’t get to achieve. It’s such a common yet so unknown condition more needs to be known about it. I’ve since learnt that if your body temperature goes up as little as 1.5 degrees you can get delirium.

Source: Chris Owen