Teacher has both legs removed after “flu” turns out to be sepsis

A mother-of-two lost both legs and is also expected to lose her fingers after her “flu-like symptoms” were revealed to be sepsis.

Julianna Bransden, 44, spent Christmas with her family in Pembrokeshire, South Wales, for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic last December.

But the happy celebrations were cut short when Julianna’s aunt in Northern Ireland fell ill on Christmas Eve and died unexpectedly of sepsis days later.

A devastated and grieving Jullianna then went to bed as she started feeling under the weather on New Year’s Eve. Her family thought nothing of it.

But the elementary school teacher’s condition deteriorated rapidly overnight and she became bedridden.

Julianna’s husband Tim said she couldn’t get her head off the pillow and check her phone, let alone get in a car or wait hours in the emergency room.

When he called 111, Tim was told his wife just needed some bed rest, but he decided to call an ambulance anyway.

This decision might have saved his wife’s life.

In sepsis, the body’s immune system becomes a wrecking ball as it responds to infection and destroys tissues and organs.

The earlier it is detected, the greater a patient’s chance of survival.

But knowing if someone has sepsis can be difficult because the symptoms — fever, rapid heartbeat, slurred speech, and trouble breathing — look a lot like other illnesses.

Sister Jac, who owns a veterinary practice in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, said: “Doctors told us afterwards that Julianna’s body was basically compensating for her and had been hiding how bad and ill she really was.

“She is young and healthy but suddenly fell off a cliff. Her heart stopped twice in 30 minutes.”

When she first came to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Julianna was suffering from aggressive pneumonia, influenza and invasive Strep A.

Jac added: “They said Julianna was 10 liters fluid deficit and in septic shock.

“When she first came to the hospital she was so dehydrated that they said her lips looked like they’d split completely if you’d touched them.”

Julianna was then diagnosed with sepsis and spent 66 days in intensive care.

“There was a nurse who had been working for eight years, one for 22 and another for 10, and everyone said they had never seen a patient have such a dramatic accident,” added Jac.

Julianna, who lives in Narberth, woke up from a coma with severe injuries to her hands and feet and underwent surgery to amputate her legs below the knee.

She will also lose most of her fingers due to sepsis, which can cause the body to form too many blood clots, cutting off nutrients and oxygen from parts of the body.

“We just prayed desperately that she would just survive. I think with sepsis people just think you either die or you live,” Jac said.

“But with Julianna’s condition, we want to raise awareness that it’s not just about being in the hospital and being a life or death situation.”

In 2015, according to the Office of National Statistics, 23,135 people died from sepsis in which sepsis was an underlying or contributory cause of death.

Diagnoses of sepsis are on the rise, adds the NHS, because medical professionals are getting better at detecting it early.

Treatment isn’t complicated or expensive and usually involves IV antibiotics, IV fluids, and supplemental oxygen.

However, the hope is not gone yet. Julianna has started talking and will soon be returning home in a wheelchair as her family raises money on GoFundMe to customize their home and pay for prosthetics.

“We’re very confident now that she’s coming home,” added Jac, “so is her character.

“She’s determined she’s not going anywhere.”

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