Dad fighting for life after common cold turned out to be sepsis

A dad from Blackpool is in intensive care fighting for his life, after what he thought was a common cold turned out to be deadly illness sepsis.

David Cram, 40, initially thought he had a cold and muscle strain after a Sunday league match on January 5th, and was given painkillers, the Blackpool Gazette reports.

David Cram, known as Kenny, ended up at Blackpool Victoria Hospital A&E two days later, where he was diagnosed with sepsis.

His younger brother Lee, 35, said: “I don’t think any of us realised at the time when he was in there how serious this was. He’s a fit and healthy guy, so he was still walking around attached to a drip while his leg was dying and his kidneys were beginning to fail.”

Lee Cram

Kenny was put in an induced coma and rushed to an operating room to save his leg – unfortunately he’d suffered multiple organ failure and his leg had to be amputated on his 40th birthday.

Lee said: “All the odds have been against him the whole time, and we thought he was going to die. His leg was hard as a rock, and completely swollen, he stopped passing urine and had no pulse in his arms, they were just freezing cold.”

Kenny’s sepsis was caused by a strain of bacteria called streptococcus, which caused a throat infection that he thought was just a cold.

According to reports, Kenny was conscious in intensive care on Monday night, but unable to speak or move.

Lee Cram

Lee said his brother is slowly showing signs of improvement, and his family and friends are currently fundraising to help with his recovery – as it stands, they have no idea when he’ll be out of intensive care.

Sepsis warning signs

After his brother’s illness, Lee and his family want to make others aware of the warning signs – sepsis can occur after even the most minor of bacterial infections, and is potentially life-threatening.

Symptoms in adults include:

-Acting confused or slurring speech

-Blue, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue

-A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it

-Difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast.

Not everyone will get all the symptoms, and anyone who thinks they or someone else has sepsis should call 999 immediately – Lee has urged anyone with unusual pain or prolonged flu-like symptoms to see a doctor.

You can head over to the JustGiving page here and donate to help Kenny’s family out in this difficult time.