Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:16 pm on 16 November 2016.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. There was a day in February 2015 when my husband was told to expect the worst, and my devastated family put their lives on hold. I had sepsis and the battle to beat the bug wasn’t going well. Who knew—not I—that a cough could open the door to a ruthless and determined enemy intent on destruction? Today we launched the cross-party group on sepsis to a packed room of survivors, Assembly Members, clinicians and the bereaved. The aims of the group are threefold: firstly, to raise the profile of sepsis—it kills more people than lung cancer; secondly, to encourage greater prevention and ensure that there’s a programme of support to help those who are living with the consequences of the disease, such as Jayne Carpenter, a nurse from the Royal Gwent, who lost both of her legs, an arm and four fingers as a result of sepsis; and thirdly, to achieve a clear sepsis pathways and an increase in public awareness. Not everyone is lucky enough to talk about their sepsis story. A third of us with sepsis die, a third suffer consequences like Jayne and a third walk away relatively unscathed, but no-one escapes scot free. Please help us to change that. This is a cross-party group that is aiming for its own extinction, and with your help, we can make that difference.