Woman who lost all four limbs to sepsis returns to hospital for reunion with doctors who saved her

Sepsis survivor Kim Smith (centre) with her daughters Gemma Simpkins (left) and Becki Campbell during a visit to Milton Keynes Hospital to say thank you to Intensive Care Unit staff who helped save her life in 2018. Credit: Milton Keynes Hospital
Kim Smith, centre, who survived sepsis, pictured with her daughters Gemma Simpkins, left, and Becki Campbell. Credit: Milton Keynes Hospital

A quadruple amputee had an emotional reunion with medics who saved her life after she contracted sepsis.

Kim Smith, 61, had to have her arms and legs amputated at Bedford Hospital in 2018 after spending nine weeks in an induced coma.

The grandmother first contracted sepsis - an extreme reaction to an infection which sees the body fighting its own tissue - while on holiday in Alicante with her husband Steve in November 2017.

She spent six weeks in a medically-induced coma in Spain before being airlifted to Milton Keynes Hospital intensive care unit (ICU) where she woke up to find her arms and legs had turned blue and needed to be amputated, after her condition was stable.

Mrs Smith, from Milton Keynes, said she owed her life to their care.

"I‘m a sepsis survivor thanks to Milton Keynes Hospital. Without their amazing care I don’t think I’d be alive," she said.

Five years after her ordeal she returned to Milton Keynes Hospital ICU to thank staff - and urged others to learn from her experiences.

"I always say to everyone now: if you have an infection, think sepsis.

"Watch for the symptoms and if you get any of them then trust your gut and seek urgent medical treatment," she said.

What are the symptoms of sepsis?

  • Confusion

  • Not passing as much urine as normal

  • Very high or low temperature

  • Uncontrolled shivering

  • Cold or blotchy arms and legs

Mrs Smith and husband Steve initially went to the Spanish hospital and tried to explain the pain in her back, but after x-rays showed no break, she was sent away again.

A doctor later prescribed antibiotics for a kidney infection but the pharmacy did not have any in stock.

The next morning she woke at 4am "feeling like I was going to die" and returned to the hospital.

Her husband was initially told by Spanish doctors she had six hours to live.

After two-and-a-half years of gruelling recovery the 61-year-old has done a parachute jump, rock climbing, abseiling and bungee jumping and is on the list for a double hand transplant which would drastically improve her life and independence.

Last year she told ITV News Anglia that the first thing she wants to do after her transplant is to hold her granddaughter's hand - who was born after Mrs Smith's amputation operation - for the first time.

Her visit to Milton Keynes Hospital coincided with the 10th anniversary of Sepsis Research FEAT which is the UK’s only sepsis charity dedicated to research and championed by Mrs Smith.

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