Paramedic, 23, dies of sepsis five days after catching a COLD
AN ASPIRING paramedic tragically died of sepsis just five days after complaining that she had a cold.
Now Jessica Holbrook's devasted family are trying to raise awareness of the deadly disease.
Sepsis is currently the primary cause of death from infection around the world, killing around 40,000 people in the UK every year.
That's more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.
Jessica, 23, died at her grandmother's house, after seeing a GP twice with a sore throat, tickly cough and a cold.
Her paramedic colleagues were called to the house but were unable to help her and pronounced her dead at the scene.
"Jessica was a beautiful, bubbly person, who was very hard-working. It was her dream to become a paramedic and she was working towards that career," said dad Leigh.
"Jessica was so well-loved, not only by her family but by all her friends.
"None of us can believe she has gone and that she will never get to fulfil all the dreams and ambitions she had."
Jessica, from Brierly, South Yorks, worked for Yorkshire Ambulance Service organising routine absence appointments - including Barnsley Hospital.
When working at the hospital, she'd often stay at her grandma's house.
She started to feel unwell on Saturday, December 9 and attended an out of hours GP appointment.
Jessica stayed at her grandma's place on December 12 in preparation for her shift the next day but called in sick the next day.
Throughout the night, her condition deteriorated and in the morning of December 14, paramedics were called.
What is sepsis?
The condition is always triggered by an infection.
Most often the culprit is an infection we all recognise - pneumonia, urinary infections(UTIs), skin infections, including cellulitis, and infections in the stomach, for example appendicitis.
The NHS explains: "Sepsis can affect multiple organs or the entire body, even without blood poisoning or septicaemia.
"Sepsis can also be caused by viral or fungal infections, although bacterial infections are by far the most common cause."
Symptoms to look out for include:
If you, a loved one, or in the case of medical professionals their patient, feels "severely sick", doesn't appear to be themselves and shows any of the following symptoms, sepsis should be suspected:
- weakness
- loss of appetite
- fever and chills
- thirst
- difficult or rapid breathing
- rapid heart rate
- low blood pressure
- low urine output
If a person is suffering these symptoms and they are thought to have suffered an infection - pneumonia, abdominal infection, urinary infection, or a wound - sepsis is a likely cause.
Sepsis happens in three stages, starting with an infection in a specific part of the body and then moving on to various organs which eventually start to fail.
Grandma Barbara, 76, said: "During the night Jessica was restless and struggled to sleep.
"At first she said she was tired and cold, but then was really hot and sweaty. Later that morning she was sick and so we phoned an ambulance.
"By this point it was just manic and all a blur. The paramedics who arrived were Jessica's friends. They did everything they could but she didn't make it."
Jessica's dad added: "All of Jessica's family are so grateful for the love and support people have shown since she died.
"There is not a day goes by where all her family don't miss her.
MORE ON SEPSIS
"Whilst nothing can bring her back, all we can hope for now is that others recognise the symptoms of sepsis before it's too late.
"If by raising awareness of how dangerous sepsis can be we save a life then Jessica's death may not have been in vain."
A two-day inquiry into Jessica's death is due to start today at Sheffield Coroner's Court.
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