Arabic version: خريجة من كارديف تدعو إلى التوعية بالإنتان بعد تلقيها العلاج في المستشفى

According to BBC News, Elle Black developed sepsis after initially dismissing a sore throat and flu-like symptoms as a hangover following a night out in February 2024. Black, 21, was in her first year at Cardiff University at the time and has since graduated with a degree in journalism, media and culture.

Black said she woke with pain at the back of her throat, then became exhausted and developed a high fever. She attended brunch with her parents but became concerned when her tonsils swelled and she could not eat. A private GP diagnosed laryngitis and prescribed antibiotics, but by the next day Black said she was drowsy, confused and almost delirious. She was later told she had called her mother saying she could not feel her legs.

At the University Hospital of Wales, Black was triaged within 15 minutes and received IV antibiotics during a two-day stay. She had developed quinsy, a complication of tonsillitis in which a pus-filled abscess forms between the tonsils and throat wall, which progressed to sepsis. Black said doctors told her that waiting another day could have led to a very different outcome. She made a full recovery, though she remained exhausted for weeks and tired for months afterwards.

Sepsis is a serious, potentially life-threatening reaction to an infection that can develop quickly. Symptoms listed include a high fever or alternating hot and cold sensations, inability to keep food or fluids down, extreme drowsiness, unusual muscle pain, suddenly worsening sore throat or tonsillitis, and a feeling that something is seriously wrong. Sepsis Research said severe, worsening or disproportionate symptoms should not be dismissed, particularly when students may attribute drowsiness, nausea and exhaustion to alcohol, lack of sleep or freshers’ flu. Black plans to run next year’s London Marathon for the charity and is urging people to seek medical advice if a suspected hangover may be something more serious.