A YOUNG woman has tragically died just weeks after developing a sore throat.
Bethannie Booth, 24, who lived in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales said goodbye to her family and even planned her own funeral before being put into a coma.
Media WalesBethannie with her parents on her graduation[/caption]
Bethannie said goodbye to her family and even planned her own funeral before being put into a comaMedia Wales
Media WalesBethanie with her siblings, brothers-in-law, and parents[/caption]
On March 2, the primary school teacher started to complain of red bumps on her face, “a little bit” of a sore throat and headache, her sister, Nia-ffion Davies, 27, told the BBC.
She was rushed to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital on March 5 after struggling to breathe and was immediately taken into resuscitation and then the intensive care unit
Later, Bethannie discovered her lung had collapsed as a result of a Strep A infection.
The highly infectious bacteria is sweeping across the UK, causing a spike in the number of scarlet fever cases.
The primary school teacher then developed sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to an infection and happens when your immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage your body’s tissue and organs.
It’s the primary cause of death from infection around the world – that’s more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.
Before being put into a coma in at attempt to give her organs time to repair, Bethannie sent some funny messages to her family members and let them know she believed she might die.
Megan Booth, 25, Bethannie’s other sister, said: “It kills me that she felt that, she must have been scared, but she was still able to crack a joke.”
Bethanie also began planning her own funeral and asked her parents to make sure it was full of colour – no one was allowed to wear black.
Bethannie was transferred to Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London where she spent two-and-a-half weeks on an ECMO machine, which takes over a person’s breathing using an artificial lung.
After showing good progress, Bethannie was transferred back to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital where she quickly re-developed sepsis and died on March 31 surrounded by her family.
Recalling her last moments, Bethanie’s dad, Wayne Booth, said: “All four of us went in to see her. We were holding her hand and she took her last breath.”
SYMPTOMS
The family now want to raise awareness of the signs of sepsis, which can be difficult to spot.
Symptoms include difficulty breathing, blotchy skin and a rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it.
Mr Booth said: “If we can save one poor family going through what we’ve gone through, we’ve accomplished something.
“A sore throat is not always a sore throat.”
Ms Davies added: “If you feel like things are wrong, if you suspect that anything’s wrong, don’t let anyone tell you that there’s nothing wrong.
The number of people developing sepsis is increasing, with around 123,000 cases each year in England.
An estimated 37,000 deaths are associated with the condition, according to NHS England.
Sepsis is considered a bigger threat than meningitis.
The rise has prompted the head of the UK Sepsis Trust to urge all parents to be as vigilant for sepsis as meningitis.