James Corcoran from Douglas in Cork is trying “to make sunshine out of a storm." The storm was the rapid death of his sister Tracey in June 2020 from sepsis.
The sunshine is trying to save other families from the same heartbreak by increasing awareness of this serious condition in Ireland.
Sepsis is a medical emergency and is the body’s extreme reaction to an infection. Normally, our immune system works to try to fight an infection, but sometimes it starts damaging our tissues and organs instead. This leads to widespread inflammation throughout the body.
Nearly 3,000 people with sepsis die in Irish hospitals each year. That’s around seven people each day, according to HSE figures.
Cork mother-of-two Tracey Corcoran is part of those statistics. “My sister died from sepsis on 20 June 2020, four years ago,” James says. “Her children were only 14 and 11.”
Tracey was 37 and had two serious health conditions - Still’s disease (a rare type of inflammatory arthritis) and also rheumatoid arthritis, but it is not known what caused her to develop sepsis. Pain was the initial indicator.
“She had a high threshold for pain so we really took notice when she complained of it. In hospital, she was moved rapidly to ICU. Four weeks later, she was dead.”
James becomes emotional remembering how her death was even more distressing because of pandemic restrictions at that time.
“We mostly had to rely on phone calls from nurses to tell us how she was and we only saw her when they were turning off the life support machine,” James recalls.
“This made the experience more traumatic because she was up there on her own. It was also distressing that doctors couldn’t tell us what had caused it. They said it could have come from an infection, even from a cut or graze.”
James hadn’t been aware of sepsis prior to this. “I’d never heard of sepsis until it came to our front door,” he says. Following Tracey’s death, James and his sister Sinéad toyed with the idea of setting up a support charity for those affected by sepsis.
She had a high threshold for pain so we really took notice when she complained of it. In hospital, she was moved rapidly to ICU. Four weeks later, she was dead.
“We were so grief stricken, though, we just didn’t have the energy to do it so when barrister Doireann O’Mahony set up the Irish Sepsis Foundation (ISF) in 2022, we got in touch with her immediately.”
James is now a member of the board of trustees of this charity and is passionate about increasing awareness of the condition.
“I will advocate until the cows come home because of what happened to Tracey,” he says.
“I promised her that I would do my utmost before I pass away to see that Ireland is educated about sepsis. It is a preventable disease. We want to bring down the figure of 3,000 deaths annually. My sister can’t be saved but we hope to save someone else’s family from going through what we’ve suffered.”
James’ work includes giving talks to schools and businesses on behalf of the foundation and lobbying ministers and politicians to increase funding for research.
“We haven’t got HSE figures for 2023 yet but we fear that the case numbers are rising. We have been unable as yet to set up a meeting with An Taoiseach and the Minister for Health in order to find out what their plan of action is. Education campaigns are needed. GPs need to be educated about it.”
Developing new test is crucial
He points out that sepsis kills 11 million people worldwide each year, more than a lot of diseases put together, so it should be getting more attention.
“It shouldn’t take UHL-related deaths like Aoife Johnston’s and Michael Cuddihy’s [whose inquests took place in recent months], and my sister’s, for them to realise that it needs to be looked at.”
James doesn’t want anyone to go through what his family has gone through. “Losing someone you love so much is very hard. That’s why we are passionate about increasing awareness.”
The work of the ISF is also about working with manufacturers to develop diagnostic tests that will mean sepsis will be picked up much quicker.
“We are dealing with a company that is working on a test that will essentially detect sepsis within 15 minutes. Ensuring funding for this is one of the reasons we want to meet the minister.”
To increase awareness, the Irish Sepsis Foundation is holding a special event, Stars for Sepsis, on World Sepsis Day, 13 September in Cork.
“It is for families and friends of those who’ve passed away and will be held in the Rochestown Park Hotel and includes dinner, a DJ, a raffle, a charity auction and sepsis testimonials.”
Eleanor’s story
Eleanor McBennett is a semi-retired freelance proofreader based in Dublin. She had perfect health up to 2019, but in March of that year, she required day surgery on her right wrist because of carpal tunnel issues, namely pins and needles pain in her hand.
“I’d prefer not to name the hospital where I had the surgery and I’m now just glad to be alive, but I have no doubt that I got sepsis following that surgery,” she says. “I had the operation on a Tuesday and started to feel weird the next day. By Thursday – St Patrick’s Day – I was very ill.”
She describes what happened as ‘rigours’.
“My whole body shook, inside and out. It was very frightening. I knew there was something seriously wrong with me. I actually felt like I was dying. By the afternoon, I couldn’t move, it was as if my whole body was being attacked.
“The emergency department at the Hermitage Clinic was open and my husband, Ray, took me there, with me getting sick in the car the whole way down and having these terrible shivers as well.”
Eleanor was admitted to The Hermitage (not the hospital she had day surgery for her wrist in) for eight days, but it was the fifth day before they found the right treatment.
“They pumped me with all sorts of antibiotics, they couldn’t find the strain [of sepsis] that I had, so they couldn’t use the correct medication initially.
"My veins actually collapsed with all the tests, so I had to have a line put in under local anaesthetic. That made things a bit easier, as everything was done through that from then on, including blood tests and intravenous antibiotics.”
Eleanor was discharged with oral antibiotics after eight days, but these made her very sick.
“I had two days of horror trying to stick with the treatment, lying on a sofa, vomiting and unable to move. I lost a stone in weight over the 10 days and the doctor told me afterwards that it had been touch and go for a while.”
Eleanor was told that it would take a good six months to feel better, but it was more like a year. “Any time afterwards that I felt any kind of strange feeling, I thought it was sepsis coming back,” she says.
“Having sepsis caused awful mental anguish. You’re not in control. This thing just took me over. I’ll always remember it. Health-wise, I’m back to myself, but I probably wouldn’t be as physically strong as I was before this trauma.”
She reiterates that if you have it, you will feel extremely ill.
“Have no doubt about it, if you get sepsis, you are very seriously ill within a very short time. It was like my body was taken over by an alien – a very weird, awful experience.
“There was fear about organ damage also, but luckily not in my case. I was fortunate that I survived and that I got good care. I’m here to tell the tale, thank God.”
While the National Sepsis Report for 2023 is not yet available, a National Sepsis Summit is being held on Tuesday, 3 September in Dublin Castle with the theme of ‘Early Treatment Saves Lives’.
More than 700 people are already registered to attend including experts who will speak about the latest prevention and treatment advancements.
The summit, the HSE believes, will lead to better management and patient outcomes for those who develop sepsis. There is a national advertising campaign which was triggered by a survey which showed that 39% of Irish adults are not aware of the signs.
The information campaign encourages people with symptoms to ask “Could it be Sepsis?” and seek urgent medical care. Know the symptoms – it save lives.
For more information, visit www2.healthservice.hse.ie/organisation/sepsis/national-sepsis-summit
‘Revealing the Burden of Sepsis’, a European-wide information day will take place in Paris, and online, on 9 September.
Sepsis communities will come together to highlight the profound impact of sepsis on patients, survivors, and grieving families.
To join in-person or online, registration is necessary. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to connect, learn, and support each other.
Check out sepsisfoundation.ie
Signs and symptoms of sepsis
S Slurred speech, new confusion, too sick to communicate, drowsiness
E Extreme shivering, muscle aches, fever
P Has not passed urine in the last 12 hours and does not feel like passing urine
S Shortness of breath, lips tinged with blue, feels like your heart is racing, dizzy when you sit or stand
I I feel like I’m going to die
S Skin mottled and discoloured, new rash that is still visible when pressed on with a clear glass (glass test).
Sepsis can affect anyone regardless of age or health status.
Sepsis is treatable, but you must act quickly.
The signs and symptoms of sepsis in children include very fast breathing, convulsions, mottled skin, unusually sleepy and cold.