A Kent MP has revealed he had to have his arms and legs amputated following a devastating battle with sepsis.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the “extreme surgery”, South Thanet Conservative Craig Mackinlay has told how doctors were forced to operate because of the effects of the life-threatening condition.
The 57-year-old had been rushed to hospital in September after feeling “very unwell” at home the previous day.
Medics placed him into an induced coma to help his body fight the sepsis, and then fought to keep him alive as he suffered multiple organ failures. He didn’t come out of the coma for 16 days.
Their efforts were a success and the father-of-one pulled through, but doctors were unable to save his limbs. The Tory explained he had started to “turn blue” during the frightening ordeal.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, Mr Mackinlay explained how at one point he was blue from head to toe and his a small chance of living.
He told Christopher Hope: “Within about half an hour of being admitted into hospital, I had the GIC effect – when sepsis gets completely out of control and I turned literally a colour of blue from head to toe – my whole body was blue.
“You end up with a lot of blood clots in your extremities, they call it the socks and gloves – and that’s what I had.
“It affected the front of my face, you can see I’ve got a bit of scarring. I had necrosis because of a loss of blood supply to the front of my mouth and its caused some damage to teeth and scarring, they had to take off some dead skin. And that will be some plastic surgery into the future.
“The price I’m going to pay for living is quite a serious disability, but we’ll get over it. We are going to have prosthetics that work, we’re going for some very fancy multi-articulating hands, and you know, in time, hopefully, I might be a little bit taller even, because I’ve got an extra inch on my legs thus far, so that’s perhaps a bonus of it.”
Asked by Christopher Hope how long he was in a coma for, Mr Mackinlay said: “I don’t really know the full details, you know, in and out of lucidity, but I could see these things were probably lost. It became obvious.
“They were completely fixed. Fixed into a clenched fist. And my toes. I could move a couple of toes on my left leg. There was sort of a little sign of life in them.
“Maybe they could have saved a bit of a foot, but my surgeon said you are better off having them off because you can have prosthetics and you’ll walk far better than having a partial foot.”
Christopher Hope asks him if it was worth carrying on, with the Tory politician replying: “I don’t think that ever happened at St Thomas’s, but I think those conversations certainly happened at Medway in the early stages whether he ought to be on “do not resuscitate”.”
In December, he told how he had received “exemplary” treatment from the NHS and was “extremely lucky to be alive”.
I can’t thank my doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals enough for the care I’ve received,” he said.
“The road to recovery is underway, which has included some extreme surgery.
“I’m sure I’ll have lots more to say about the experience over the months ahead. For now, I’d like to send my heartfelt thanks to the many constituents who have sent their good wishes.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness of friends and strangers. Thank you all.”
During the interviewed, aired tonight, the MP’s wife Kati emotionally explained how the family were told he had a 5% chance of survival.
“To be able to get on with all the necessary procedures, they had to put him in an induced coma and then within a few hours, he had to be dialysed,” she said.
“The dialysis started and his breathing was quite difficult, so the lungs were also suffering.
“That’s when they declared a multiple organ failure. At this stage, we still didn’t know what the cause was. None of the tests were showing any bacteria, and then after six days, it came to light that there was pneumococcus.
“That’s when we were told Craig would have a 5% chance to survive. I must admit, I, I never said goodbye. I never thought that’s it for Craig.
“You’ve got the first two days, the, uh, the difficulty to deal with the idea that is it really happening or is it a nightmare? But then the reality hits after about 48 hours that it’s just something you cannot wake up from.
“But somewhere down deep I always knew that Craig Would pull through.”
The NHS describes sepsis, also known as septicemia or blood poisoning, as a life-threatening reaction to an infection.
This can happen when the body’s immune system “overreacts” to an infection and begins to cause damage to tissues and organs.
Often most affected by a lack of blood supply are the body’s extremities – such as the hands and feet – where life-threatening gangrene can develop.
In such cases doctors may be forced to amputate to prevent the gangrene from spreading.
It can be hard to identify the symptoms of sepsis, which “can be like symptoms of other conditions, including flu or a chest infection”, the NHS website says.
In adults, they can also include things like acting confused, slurred speech or struggling to make sense as well as difficulty breathing.
In both adults and children signs also include blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue.
Mr Mackinlay was previously a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), serving as its deputy leader from 1997 to 2000 and acting leader in 1997.
He joined the Conservative Party in 2005, and was elected as a councillor on Medway Council in 2007 and re-elected in 2011.
In 2015, he was elected as Member of Parliament for South Thanet at the general election, where he famously stood against the then UKIP leader Nigel Farage and comedian Al Murray.
