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TRUTH ABOUT SEPSIS
Brave amputee helps Coronation Street star Kyran Bowes tackle challenging sepsis storyline after doctors gave her ‘three days to live’
WHEN Coronation Street decided to tackle one of its most harrowing health storylines, producers had to employ an expert to ensure the script was authentic.
In scenes to be aired over the coming weeks, Kevin Webster’s seven-year-old son Jack will contract the life-or-death condition sepsis — and doctors will be forced to amputate his foot.
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No one can understand Jack’s heartbreak more than Sasha Burrell, who was 12 when she lost both her legs below the knee to the illness that kills 44,000 Brits a year.
And when Corrie bosses asked Sasha, now 14, to help actor Kyran Bowes, 11, with his challenging role she agreed in the hope it could save lives.
Sasha, from Rickmansworth, Herts, said: “I was so excited and proud to be chosen to help Coronation Street.
“Visiting the set and pulling a pint in the Rovers was amazing but being able to help Kyran was an honour.
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“I told him how I felt when I got ill, how I recovered and how it’s important to keep looking forward.
“After I lost my legs, I used to think to myself, ‘There’s no going back, so you might as well get on with it’. The only thing that has changed about me is my legs.
“I’m still the same person I was before I got ill. I want people to know there is life after sepsis.”
Coronation Street's Sophie Webster breaks down as she's told little brother Jack has Sepsis
Sasha had flu-like symptoms with cold hands and feet, and vomiting, on her 12th birthday.
Mum Claire, 64, thought she had a virus and looked after her at home. Within 48 hours Sasha was struggling to breathe and Claire took her to hospital.
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Ross Barton leaves hospital in Emmerdale less than a day after being diagnosed with sepsis
They discovered she had sepsis — a reaction to any infection that has spread via the bloodstream that results in the body attacking its own organs and tissues.
It can occur after minor cuts and scrapes, chest infections or even the flu and affects 250,000 people a year.
Doctors put Sasha in a coma and pumped her full of antibiotics.
They warned she could have just three days to live.
Sasha suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be given CPR eight times before her heart started beating again.
The sepsis meant all of Sasha’s blood was being used by her vital organs, leading to gangrene setting in on her lower limbs.
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Her mum, economist dad Andy, 52, and brother Yuri, 17, were told she needed to have her legs amputated.
Claire said: “That was heartbreaking. Telling her was even worse. But she was so brave, so resilient. Once she understood, she looked down at her legs and said, ‘RIP feet’.
“She still had her brilliant sense of humour, even in the darkest of times. It was terrifying. We have no idea how Sasha got it. We’ll never know.
Sasha said: “I was sad but I kept saying to myself, ‘You can’t go back, you just have to get on with it’.
“I remember coming round from the coma and hallucinating. And I remember the pain. But my biggest memory is painting the nurses’ nails and having fun.
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“When I came round from my amputation, the first thing I did was eat a Mars Bar and a Twix that Dad had brought me. I was starving!
“Mum got me a kitten, Mittens, and that really helped me move on.” Just six months after her op, Sasha came second in the National Schools Trampoline finals.
She said: “I’ve always loved sport and it’s no different now. I ride my bike and skateboard with my friends.
“I want to take up athletics, too. I can do anything. Sport is a fun hobby, but in the future I want to work with animals.”
In October, Sasha won Inspirational Young Person at the WellChild Awards and says meeting patron Prince Harry there was the best day of her life.
She said: “He was funny, and he stuck his tongue out at me while we were having dinner.”
I was sad but I kept saying to myself, 'You can't go back, you just have to get on with it.'
Sasha
Claire said: “It is so important to spot the early warning signs of sepsis.
“With Sasha’s help, this storyline could save lives — and I’m incredibly proud of her for that.”
Actor Kyran said: “I wanted to see for myself what sepsis can do to you, to give me the confidence to play the story as true to life as I possibly could. Meeting someone who has been through it really helped.
“Sasha is amazing. You’d never think she’d been through such a horrible illness.
“She is so brave. She was so happy and smiling all the time. I think Sasha is very inspirational.
“It made me so determined to play my part as best I could, to get it right for all the people who have suffered like Sasha.
WARNING SIGNS IN CHILDREN
- Abnormally cold to touch
- Mottled, bluish or very pale skin
- Rash that does not fade when pressed
- Breathing very fast – or is very lethargic and difficult to wake up
- Has a fit or convulsion
“She explained that Jack would have his ups and downs. He would be confused and devastated at losing his leg.
“She told me she had to focus on goals, focus on something positive.
“I hope I’ve done the story proud for Coronation Street and for all the people who have suffered sepsis.
“It is a terrible illness and I hope this storyline helps others and raises lots of awareness.”
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BBC Panorama investigation unearths poor performance of NHS in diagnosing Sepsis
Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust and clinical advisor to Coronation Street on the storyline, agrees.
He said: “Sepsis affects at least 250,000 Britons every year; that’s more than suffer heart attacks.
“It claims more lives than breast cancer, bowel cancer and prostate cancer combined.
“At least 25,000 children develop sepsis every year, with more than 1,000 dying.
“Greater public awareness and empowerment of our public to seek healthcare quickly will save thousands of lives every year.
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“It’s incredible that Coronation Street is raising the profile of a condition which affects so many people, and yet until now has been so poorly recognised.
Stories like Jack’s are all too familiar.
“Individuals and families have their lives torn apart by the condition.”
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