Mother almost died when ‘winter flu’ turned out to be deadly sepsis

A mother-of-two almost died when her ‘winter flu’ turned out to be deadly sepsis—potentially sparked by an infected wisdom tooth. 

Roberta Alisauskaite, 27, a mental health nurse from Carmarthenshire in Wales felt ‘under the weather’ but put it down to a picking up a winter cold from work. 

Adding to her foggy head, Ms Alisauskaite was also being treated for an abscess in one of her wisdom teeth, and was taking antibiotics.

Initially, she wasn’t worried about feeling under the weather and ‘powered through’, looking after her two boys Sean Haughey, eight, and Koby Haughey, six. 

But over the course of a few days, her health deteriorated and she began to cough, shake and her temperature skyrocketed, with things coming to a head on October 20.

She said: ‘I woke up and I was really flushed, and I was so hot, my whole face was covered in sweat and I wasn’t wearing anything other than a t-shirt.’ 

After taking her sons to school, Ms Alisauskaite returned home where her symptoms worsened.

She said: ‘I was really cold, and I put the heating on. My body then went into what I now know was septic shock. 

Recalling the ordeal, she said: ‘I tried to speak to my kids, but I wasn’t making any sense anymore and it was a really scary moment.

‘I was wrapped up in bed with the heating on, but I was shaking. It made me go a bit delirious.

‘I stripped myself off and went in a cold shower to cool off as I felt like I was burning.’

Later that day, after being collected from school by their her neighbour, her sons found her delirious and lying in bed. 

She tried to communicate with them, but her speech was slurred and she shortly became unresponsive.

‘My eldest son was asking if I was okay and I was unresponsive.

‘He rang 999 and told them “Mummy wasn’t well” and then I don’t remember the rest.’

Her mother raced to her home, and after being told that the wait for an ambulance would be three hours, made the decision to take her to hospital herself. 

She said: ‘My mum said she couldn’t watch her daughter die in front of her eyes.’ 

The next thing Ms Alisauskaite remembers is waking up in Glangwili General Hospital, in Wales, on October 20.

She learnt that she been rushed to A&E where she was treated for sepsis and given antibiotics and pain medication through an IV drip. 

Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency where the body has an extreme reaction to an infection.

Without prompt treatment it can lead to tissue damage and organ failure which can prove fatal. 

Of her time at the hospital, she said:’ I rang my mum, and I asked how the boys were. She said both my boys were traumatised as they tried to wake me up.

Without prompt treatment it can lead to tissue damage and organ failure which can prove fatal. 

‘I was extremely hot to touch but I was feeling cold. They tried to put a cannula in, I was so hot to touch it felt like their gloves were burning.

‘When they took my temperature in the hospital it was 40.2C. I was so scared to fall asleep in case I didn’t wake up this time.

‘They wouldn’t let me go without having some sort of explanation of how my body managed to go into septic shock in less than 12 hours.’

In hospital, she also underwent a chest x-ray, CT scan and an ultrasound to try and find the source of her infection, but claims doctors couldn’t locate it.

But since being discharged from hospital on October 23rd, she claims her consultant said the combination of her ‘cold’ or ‘Covid-type flu’ and her tooth may have been the cause of the infection but this has not been confirmed.

‘The only thing my consultant could think of was the wisdom tooth and I had antibiotics for,’ she said.

‘He didn’t want to rule it out for sure as they weren’t sure if it was the source but said it could be related to my wisdom tooth.

‘He said that even though I had antibiotics because I was feeling unwell prior to this and you got the abscess, your immunity was very low for the antibiotics to have a full effect.’

Following the ordeal, Ms Alisauskaite said: ‘I’ve always been very grateful for my health and being as fit as I am.

‘But you don’t take enough gratitude for it until something like this springs up on you, especially when you’re a parent with small children.

‘I want to ensure, especially this time of year, that colds and flu due to the natural changes and the temperature could be something else. 

‘As mum’s we just get on with it as we have our children to look after. We always power through.

‘If I was left any longer, I could have died. It’s hard to look back on because that day could have ended very differently had I not been aware [of sepsis symptoms].

Now she is raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis to warn others that their winter cold or flu could be a sign of something more serious. 

According to the UK Sepsis Trust UK, sepsis is a medical emergency and knowing the signs and acting fast can save lives.

There is no single sign of sepsis but spotting symptoms in adults can show as slurred speech, extreme shivering, breathlessness, muscle pain and confusion.

The NHS says there are lots of possible symptoms which can be like other conditions such as the flu or a chest infection.

It says if you think you or someone you look after has symptoms of sepsis to call 999 or go to A&E and to ‘trust your instincts’.