I WENT TO BED WITH 'FLU' AND ALMOST DIDN'T WAKE UP - MY KIDS PHONED 999 TO SAVE ME FROM DEADLY SEPSIS

ExCo

Roberta Alisauskaite had begun to feel 'under the weather' in October last year but thought she had picked up a winter cold from work.

While Roberta had cold-like symptoms, she claims she also suffered an abscess in one of her wisdom teeth and was taking antibiotics to help the swelling.

But over the next few days, the 27-year-old says her health deteriorated and she began to cough, shake and her temperature skyrocketed.

At first, the mental health nurse says she wasn't worried and 'powered through' looking after her two boys Sean Haughey, eight, and Koby Haughey, six.

But when the mum-of-two began to sweat uncontrollably while dropping them off at school on October 20, she returned to bed and claims she went into septic shock.

After the two lads returned home from school, they went to check on their mum but by this point she was slurring her words and then became unresponsive.

She claims her next memory was waking up in Glangwili General Hospital in Wales on October 20, after her son Sean had called 999 and then her mum rushed her to A&E.

Roberta was then treated for sepsis and given antibiotics and pain medication through an IV drip.

She is now raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis as she claims she nearly died in front of her kids and claims both her sons have been left 'traumatised' from the experience.

Roberta, from Carmarthenshire in South West Wales, said: "I was originally under the weather and it felt like cold-like flu symptoms. On Monday, I woke up and I was really flushed and I was so hot, my whole face was covered in sweat and I wasn't wearing anything other than a t-shirt.

"I was really cold and I put the heating on. My body then went into what I now was septic shock. I was wrapped up in bed with the heating on but I was shaking. It made me go a bit delirious.

"I stripped myself off and went in a cold shower to cool off as I felt like I was burning.

"[When my neighbour dropped my kids off], I told them I was going to lie down upstairs and told my kids to come and chill on the bed with me

"I tried to speak to my kids but I wasn't making any sense any more and it was a really scary moment. My eldest son was asking if I was okay and I was unresponsive. He rang 999 and told them 'mummy wasn't well' and then I don't remember the rest.

"My mum came home and took over the call and we were told the ambulance wait was three hours [so she took me to hospital]. My mum said she couldn't watch her daughter die in front of her eyes."

According to the UK Sepsis Trust UK, sepsis is a medical emergency and knowing the signs and acting fast can save lives.

There is no single sign of sepsis but spotting symptoms in adults can show as slurred speech, extreme shivering, breathlessness, muscle pain and confusion.

In hospital, she also underwent a chest X-ray, CT scan and an ultrasound to try and find the source of her infection but claims doctors couldn't locate it.

But since being discharged from hospital on October 23, she claims her consultant said the combination of her 'cold' or 'Covid-type flu' and her tooth may have been the cause of the infection but this has not been confirmed.

Roberta said: "[In hospital] I rang my mum and I asked how the boys were. She said both my boys were traumatised as they tried to wake me up. I was extremely hot to touch but I was feeling cold. They said when they tried to put a cannula in I was so hot to touch it felt like their gloves were burning.

"When they took my temperature in the hospital I was at 40.2. I was so scared to fall asleep in case I didn't wake up this time. They wouldn't let me go without having some sort of explanation of how my body managed to go into septic shock in less than 12 hours.

"It's very concerning however since then I have spoken to my GP and she said there have been cases where people have contracted sepsis and the location was never sourced The only thing my consultant could think of was the wisdom tooth and I had antibiotics for. He didn't want to rule it out for sure as they weren't sure if it was the source but said it could be related to my wisdom tooth.

"He said that even though I had antibiotics because I was feeling unwell prior to this and you got the abscess, your immunity was very low for the antibiotics to have a full effect."

Roberta is now raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis to warn others that their winter flu or cold could be a sign of something more serious.

Roberta said: "I've always been very grateful for my health and being as fit as I am but you don't take enough gratitude for it until something like this springs up on you, especially when you're a parent with small children.

"I want to ensure, especially this time of year, that colds and flu due to the natural changes and the temperature, could be something else. As mums we just get on with it as we have our children to look after. We always power through.

"If I was left any longer, I could have died. It's hard to look back on because that day could have ended very differently, had I not been aware [of sepsis symptoms]."