Actor Warwick Davis’ wife Sammy Davis, 47, nearly died following a routine back operation
Sammy Davis, 47, was struck down by a potentially deadly trio of sepsis, meningitis and Strep B infections
THE wife of actor Warwick Davis is “elated to be alive” after NHS heroes saved her life following a routine back operation.
Sammy Davis, 47, was struck down by a potentially deadly trio of sepsis, meningitis and Strep B infections.
But medics pulled her back from the brink and now she feels she has a “second chance at life”.
Praising doctors and nurses, she said: “I owe my life to them. They were amazing.”
Sammy, who has been married to Warwick for 27 years, said fell seriously ill 19 days after having decompression surgery on her spine.
She thought she was going to die after her blood pressure soared and she lost feeling in her legs.
Now, back at home and slowly recovering, she praised the NHS for saving her life and said that her near-death experience has made her relationship with Warwick stronger than ever.
“It was awful. One night I was so ill I felt I couldn’t fight it anymore. I wasn’t scared, I just didn’t have any energy left,” she said.
“I could hear Warwick and my children talking and trying to cheer me up, but I felt completely detached. It was very surreal. We’re having a new house built and as I lay there I couldn’t imagine ever living there with them. I thought that my time was up.
Sammy, who has achondroplasia, had decompression surgery on her spine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge on July 18, which involved removing bone to release pressure on the nerves around her spinal cord.
She’s had the operation four times before and after eight hours in surgery she spent five days in hospital. Sammy then spent a week recovering with her children, Annabelle and Harrison in Warwick’s hotel room near Pinewood Studios, where he was filming.
“We went home a week later and suddenly I couldn’t feel my legs. I thought I was still recovering from the surgery so I went to bed, but the next day I felt awful, as though I had been hit by a truck,” she said.
“I stayed in bed all day while Warwick and Harrison went to a family party and the next morning I woke at 4am feeling even worse.
“As the day went on I couldn’t concentrate, I lay on the sofa and when I tried to get up I collapsed on the floor.”
Warwick took Sammy to her GP but as she sat in her office her condition quickly deteriorated.
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“The doctor sent me to A&E at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and as Warwick drove me there I drifted in and out of consciousness. It was very scary for Warwick,” she said.
“By the time I reached the hospital my temperature had rocketed, I couldn’t walk and I was screaming with pain if my legs were moved.”
Sammy was given an MRI scan and after other tests, doctors discovered her scar tissue was infected with bacterial meningitis, sepsis and Step B.
“I knew things were bad because all my family had arrived from across the country,” said Sammy. “I was given antibiotics and the doctor told me I was very poorly and he’d have to operate and drain my scar of the infections.
“I was really scared and Warwick looked pale, but the staff were fantastic and I tried to remain positive for the children.
“They told me they might have to put metal rods in my back if any of the bone in my spine had become infected, so I was even more worried, as I knew that would be a game-changer and I didn’t know how I’d cope.”
After surgery, the next morning Sammy woke up in intensive care and felt elated to be alive.
“The nurse said I was doing well. They’d washed out the area of my original surgery to remove the infection and hadn’t had to put in metal rods. I was so happy, I sent a silly selfie to Warwick. I looked awful, but I was alive.”
Over the next few days Sammy drifted in and out of consciousness as the doctors worked to find the right antibiotics to keep the infections at bay.
“My whole body was poisoned, I was low on everything. It was like having a big hand over my body holding it down,” she said. “Eventually I started to get better and was moved to a general ward. The nurses were amazing and I felt really loved and cared for.”
But a week later she woke feeling sick and dizzy. “I felt awful, my blood pressure dropped, my heart rate soared and I felt as though I didn’t have the energy to fight anymore. At 4am I was given another MRI scan because the doctors were worried the meningitis had gone to my brain.”
Thankfully the infection had been caught in time and Sammy was given different antibiotics which soon started working.
Sammy left hospital on August 15 but will be on intravenous antibiotics for six weeks.
“I’m gradually getting my strength back but I’m still in a lot of pain. I can’t do anything for myself, Warwick is doing everything for me at the moment,” she said.
“It’s been awful but I feel very blessed. Warwick and I are one now. We’ve been through a lot, we’ve lost babies and had bereavements and this has brought us even closer together. I’m very lucky and a very proud wife.
“I’m also hugely grateful to the NHS. I lay in bed and watched the doctors and nurses working tirelessly, their care and attention is second to none. I felt so safe and I owe my life to them. They were all truly amazing.”