Former Irish football international tells why he’s raising awareness about sepsis
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What is sepsis and why is it a leading cause of preventable deaths in Ireland?
It's a word many of us have heard, but few of us really understand until it hits home. Sepsis. It affects up to fifteen thousand people in Irish hospitals annually and results in about three thousand deaths a year. And it often starts with something as routine as a small cut or a chest or urinary tract infection. But sepsis is also the number one cause of preventable deaths in the world, so the key is to spot the signs quickly. International Stephen Carr sadly lost his mother Teresa to Sepsis in twenty eighteen. He joins me on the line, as does Darren O'Mahany, Chair of the Irish Sepsis Foundation. Stephen, I'll come to you first. Thanks very much for joining us and good morning to you. Um the HSE have launched an action on sepsis strategy today.
September is sepsis awareness month. You're stay you're sharing your story so people can be more informed. Before we get into how your mum became ill, Stephen, could you Tell us a little bit about her.
Well, my mum was a healthy woman, um, quite active, done the gym, so and so, lived very well.
How did Stephen Carr’s mother first show symptoms and what was the initial diagnosis?
She hardly drank, doesn't smoke, um so I think that's a sign like a a very healthy woman to be struck down with it is um quite scary.
Yeah, and it this happened I think over the Christmas period and at first it just looked like she had the flu.
Yeah, over the Christmas, a week ten days before she had the flu. She couldn't shake it off, to be honest, over the over the Christmas. She still had a bit of a um said I seen her, I always came home for New Year. I seen her just before the New Year. Seemed she seemed okay. Um still wasn't a hundred percent. Um but what I always remember is like New Year's Eve and we all meet up as a family. She just had this little cough still that wasn't shifting. So as I said, after that I went home and then I get a call, you need to come home to see your mum. So that's how it was attacking her, unfortunately. We like we didn't know, she didn't know.
Yeah, and you're you're I mean she became so unwell your dad had to take her to hospital.
What challenges did doctors face in identifying sepsis in Stephen’s mother?
And at what point was the word sepsis used, Stephen?
Well, it wasn't used to be honest. Um, because she went into hospital, um, I said she was up and down a bit, like at one stage she was saying, When am I going home? And then because I have friends in the ambulance who know the doctors there and all and they were checking on her and they they said, No, she's doing well now. So unfortunately over the next few hours of that She uh deteriorated pretty poorly with that's when I got a call to come home. Mm-hmm.
And so you you didn't uh or nobody knew what was wrong with her at that stage?
No, they just the the doctors are trying to find out where the where it was coming from, but unfortunately Every day makes a difference, every hour makes a difference, unfortunately deep down our body was obviously shutting down in some way. So they're trying to chase it. And then they'll chase something and then it's it's attacking something else. And that's what ultimately happened to her, which was explained to us by the uh head doctor um when we met him after, like, how did this happen? He said we just couldn't get a hold of it because it was just moving around the body and unfortunately it affected the kidneys and then they just couldn't
Why does Stephen Carr want to share his family’s story to raise sepsis awareness?
get get a grip of it. And that's when she went into a really bad state.
Yeah. It is a really tragic loss. A a relatively young woman, as you say, a very fit woman and uh a terrible loss for you and your family seven.
Yeah, i as I say, it's from the flu. Um so it's it's very it's hard to take that you can go from the flu to being hooked up in every tube and you're you're basically saying goodbye to your uh mother. So i it it's quite a traumatic time, very traumatic for my dad because he was the woman she got really poorly at home as get an ambulance so he's seeing it all unfold, which is very tough to take.
Yeah.
Um so
Yeah. And
say, I get that call, get home, because she's she's not good. And I knew the minute he said get home, she's in trouble. Yeah.
What key messages does the Irish Sepsis Foundation emphasize during Sepsis Awareness Month?
Um, unfortunately.
Now you're sharing your story, Stephen, because you want to let people know uh what let people know about sepsis and what they need to know about it.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is sepsis and why is it a leading cause of preventable deaths in Ireland?
0:00–0:58
2
How did Stephen Carr’s mother first show symptoms and what was the initial diagnosis?
0:58–1:54
3
What challenges did doctors face in identifying sepsis in Stephen’s mother?
1:54–2:58
4
Why does Stephen Carr want to share his family’s story to raise sepsis awareness?
2:58–3:44
5
What key messages does the Irish Sepsis Foundation emphasize during Sepsis Awareness Month?
3:44–4:36
6
How do the SEPSIS acronym signs help the public recognise a sepsis emergency?
4:36–5:31
7
Why is rapid treatment with antibiotics crucial for sepsis survival?
5:31–6:25
8
What actions can listeners take today to help prevent sepsis deaths in their community?
6:25–8:00
Speakers
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