Woman given hours to live after UTI complications triggered sepsis

A young woman was given just hours to live after kidney stones caused by a urinary tract infection sent her body into septic shock. 

In August, Lauren Carson, 31, from Belfast, woke up with a urinary tract infection (UTI) and started a standard week-long course of antibiotics.

When her symptoms failed to improve, Ms Carson didn’t think much of it, as she had been dealing with recurrent UTIs for years. 

But by the time she got back from a holiday in Majorca, the financial crime specialistcould barely walk due to agonising back pain—which she initially put down to a running injury.

Just hours later, after calling her GP who immediately ordered her a taxi to the hospital, Ms Carson went into septic shock, and required urgent surgery to stop her organs from completely shutting down.

‘As a woman, you just assume it’s a UTI and you need to drink more water,’ she recalled. 

‘I had a course of antibiotics, but it didn’t seem to ease the symptoms and I ended up getting severe back pain on one side. 

‘I thought I could have strained a muscle from running, but it wasn’t that at all. It was because the UTI had developed into kidney stones and I hadn’t realised.’ 

Within six hours of arriving at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Ms Carson’s organs began to fail, triggering septic shock. 

‘I went from having a scan to being completely confused, to not remembering anything. 

‘I was basically told I had less than 24 hours to live if I didn’t have the operation then.’ 

She added: ‘I never expected it to be something so serious. UTIs are so common with women, you never expect it to be fatal.’

Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and begins attacking the body’s own tissues and organs. 

It can be triggered by a kidney infection—a painful type of UTI that can affect one or both kidneys—caused by a build-up of bacteria in the urethra. 

The symptoms of a kidney infection are similar to kidney stones but may also include a high temperature, feeling sweaty, a urine infection and pain in the side of abdomen or groin. 

Now recovering from surgery, which saw her spend five nights in hospital, Ms Carson wants to raise better awareness around UTIs, and the very serious complications of an infection.

‘I was quite an active person before—I do yoga, Pilates, running—so it was a shock. 

‘I haven’t been able to do anything like that. It’s changed my entire life from just having a UTI. 

‘I still can’t walk too far and still struggle with recurrent UTI symptoms,’ she added. 

She is now urging women to take their symptoms seriously, and advocate for their health if they persist. 

‘If antibiotics don’t work after three days, you should go to the doctors and explain the antibiotics haven’t got rid of the infection,’ she said. 

‘We need to start taking UTIs more seriously, because women are so prone to getting them. 

‘Don’t ignore symptoms like tiredness and confusion, because they could be a sign of something more serious.’ 

UTIs affect the urinary tract, which includes the bladder, the urethra and the kidneys. 

According to the NHS, common symptoms include pain or a burning sensation when passing urine, needing to go more often than usual and lower abdominal or back pain.  

Up to 1.7million people in the UK suffer from recurrent UTIs—classed as three or more infections a year—which are one of the most common causes of sepsis.

UTIs are the most common bacterial infection in women, affecting around half of women in the UK. 

There are lots of possible symptoms of sepsis but common symptoms in adults or older children include: blue, grey pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue, acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense, a rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it and difficulty breathing.

Sepsis needs to be treated as quickly as possible in hospital. If it’s not caught early, it can turn into septic shock and cause life-threatening organ failure.