Essex dad’s sepsis nightmare as family were told to say goodbyes

A non-drinker or smoker, former professional bodybuilder, keen mountain biker and black belt in karate, Mark Oakes, 51, was very fit by anyone's standards. But sepsis almost took that all away, indeed was so close that Mark’s doctor told his wife, Heather, to bring their seven-year-old son to the hospital to say his goodbyes.

Mark, who lives on the border between Harlow and Roydon, said: “I consider myself to be somewhat informed about this sort of thing but I knew nothing about sepsis. I had this perception that sepsis was something found in people who have had things like tattoos in less than hygienic places, or someone who had had a hideous bite in a tropical country.

“I also thought it would be easily treated. What I didn’t know was that it killed about 50,000 out of 250,000 people affected in the UK each year. I didn’t know that 5 people die of sepsis every hour. I didn’t know that it is the biggest killer globally.”

Mark’s nightmare began in the summer of 2022 when his shoulder clicked while he was cleaning windows at home. He thought it might be a small age-related problem, but by five o’clock that evening, he couldn’t move his arm. He went to bed early that night, feverish and shivering.

He went to A&E, but they thought his shoulder needed orthopaedic surgery. While awaiting the surgery Mark spent a week on pain medication, becoming constipated and struggling to sleep and breathe properly.

Mark was a professional bodybuilder, winning the Professional World Championships in 2013 before retiring from competition (Image: EssexLive)

Eventually, he tested the oxygen levels in his blood using his wife’s Apple watch. It was at 68 per cent much lower than the healthy average of 95-100pc.

Mark went back to the hospital and was put under general anaesthetic so doctors could drain his shoulder. But while he was unconscious Mark’s liver and kidneys started failing and his lungs began filling with liquid.

He awoke fifteen hours later and found a ventilator on his face. “I looked like Bane,” he said. Over the next ten days, he was in intensive care, and his condition worsened before it got better.

Mark said: “Intensive care is a tough place to be as a patient. There is very little that you can do for. yourself - you’re bedbound, you have got all this medication.

“There are alarms going off all the time because everyone else there is really poorly. You get disturbed quite often by tests and more medication.”

Mark hugs his son, Lincoln, while in hospital (Image: EssexLive)

After three days Mark’s doctor told Heather to bring their son, Lincoln, in to say his goodbyes. But she didn’t stop believing that things would get better.

Mark said: “Heather was confident I would be alright in the end though - she views me as strong and a fighter. She worked exceptionally hard to keep Lincoln’s life as normal as possible, as well as visiting me. She has had the hardest journey of all of us, without a doubt.”

Eventually, Mark recovered, although problems with his shoulder persisted, as well as fatigue and a lack of focus caused by the illness.

Now he works with Sepsis Research FEAT, a UK-based charity that not only wants to raise awareness about sepsis but also funds vital medical research into the understanding and treatment of this potentially deadly condition.

Today is the start of sepsis awareness month, and to mark the occasion the charity is launching a research survey which will determine the priorities for sepsis research over the next decade, inviting those who have had their lives touched by sepsis to take part and have their voices heard.

Since an operation in early August at a bone infection unit in Oxford, Mark has been back in a sling but now believes that he has fully recovered: “I genuinely feel like this is going to be the end of that now. I feel like the infection is gone.”

Colin Graham, chief operating officer at Sepsis Research FEAT, said: “Sepsis is the number one cause of preventable death in the world and often has life-changing consequences for those that survive.

“Our purposes as a charity are to raise funds for research into sepsis and to raise awareness of this brutal and often life-threatening condition. Sepsis Awareness Month helps us do that by educating more people about the symptoms of sepsis so they can recognise them quickly and act fast to get treatment.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for those who have been affected by sepsis to make their voices heard and to contribute to the direction of sepsis research for the future."

References

1. ^{^} Man found dead in Essex warehouse named as inquest opens into his death (www.essexlive.news)