Steve Crooke

I am a 61 year old high school science teacher. Last April I woke one morning and told my wife I needed to get to a doctor but didn’t feel I could drive. I collapsed at my doctor’s surgery with a blood pressure of 40 over 20. I was given oxygen and had a two-hour wait for an ambulance.

I was taken to Critical Care at the Garrett Anderson Centre at the Ipswich Hospital, here in Suffolk, England. I had kidney failure, septacaemia and heart failure. I was put on oxygen, dialysis and life support. I was in and out of consciousness for almost a month before being transferred to a ward.

I was discharged in June 2014, in a wheelchair. I didn’t know that I would not be able to walk until a few hours before discharge. I was devastated. What followed was months of pain. I was told it would be a year to 18 months to see any signs of recovery. The flashbacks, hallucinations and paralysing dreams, caused by the medication I was given could last ten years.

I am left with neuropathic pain in both legs and feet and recurring fatigue. I cannot take any painkilling medication because of the kidney failure I suffered. It took a couple of months, but I have taught myself to walk again. I cannot walk far, but it is preferable to my original fate. My memory is damaged and I suffer from anxiety and depression.

My experience of sepsis has been truly life changing. I feel abandoned and alone with no future. Very few doctors seem to be aware of sepsis and the effects of it on
survivors and their lives. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. The sheer frustration of being unable to do what you could, takes its toll every day.

Added July 4, 2022: Steve passed away on May 26, 2022 – after developing sepsis again.