Family tell of mum’s death and warn that ‘sepsis does not discriminate’

By Louise Walsh

A grieving daughter whose mother died just hours after insisting on doing her hair before getting into an ambulance is now campaigning on the dangers of sepsis.

Angela Cahill put on a new pair of pyjamas and admonished her family for wasting paramedics’ time when she reluctantly got into the ambulance on February 8. Just eight hours later, the 60-year-old mother of three from Virginia, Co Cavan, was dead.

Her devastated family, who are struggling to come to terms with her sudden death, are now urging people to learn the signs of sepsis and be aware that every second counts.

Her daughter Cathriona Flanagan, a nurse at Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan, Co Meath, is behind an awareness campaign after discovering that many people think sepsis can only result from a cut.

My mam walked every day and never had a medical condition. On the Saturday before she died, she minded my two kids all day and was in great form,” she recalled.

“The next day, she visited her sister who was sick and on the Tuesday, she was out chatting away in the local supermarket.”

It was on Wednesday that things took a turn for the worst.

“She took to the bed with flu-like symptoms, which are a classic symptom of sepsis but we thought she has just contracted the flu, which was going around the area.

“She refused to go to the doctor and said she’d see how she was the next day, so my dad Noel and siblings Matthew and Helen stayed with her to constantly monitor her overnight.

“I rang from work at 8am and my sister said there was a rash on mam’s face so I asked her to WhatsApp me a picture. I thought it initially was meningitis and told her to call an ambulance straight away. I left work straight away to get over and knew something just wasn’t right.

“My mam couldn’t understand what the fuss was all about and insisted on changing her pyjamas and doing her hair before she got into the back of the ambulance, where the paramedics got a shock when they checked her blood sugar level. The normal level is between four and five and this was just two. They couldn’t understand how she was even conscious, never mind mobile.”

On the way to Cavan General Hospital, Angela’s organs began to fail and by the time Cathriona arrived at the hospital at 10.30am, there was panic in the emergency department.

A nurse told me that mam had gone into septic shock and things weren’t looking good. By 3pm, my mam was on a ventilator, and by 6.15pm it was switched off. My mam was dead.

The family were told that Angela developed sepsis from a chest infection of which she showed no symptoms.

Cathriona said: “Sepsis does not discriminate and does not only come from a cut. It can come from surgery, pneumonia, chest infection, even a urinary tract infection.

“Early intervention is paramount. Symptoms include a high or low temperature, confusion, fast heartbeat, or failure to pass urine within a 12-hour period. If anyone is showing these symptoms, you need to ask the question about sepsis and please, please get checked out immediately.”