A woman is urgently alerting others that seemingly minor issues like a urinary tract infection (UTI) or a paper cut can escalate into a life-threatening condition, emphasising the importance of recognising the signs and symptoms of such dangers.

On TikTok, Kim, known as @kimschancebackup, posted a video that has garnered nearly half a million views. As a sepsis survivor and quadruple amputee, she is actively promoting awareness about sepsis and related disabilities after experiencing an infection that rapidly progressed to sepsis.

In her video, she urges people to stop the belief that such incidents couldn’t happen to them, stating: “I think we’re all a little bit guilty of saying ‘that won’t happen to me’, I know I’ve said it in the past and I never thought this would happen to me”. She posed the question: “I have never heard of sepsis, have you?” adding: “If you haven’t you need to listen because this could happen to you.

“I had a UTI and it developed into sepsis. Any infection at all – a paper cut, a scratch – anything can get infected and if it does it can develop into sepsis very, very fast and it can kill you. Sepsis is a medical emergency. You need to get to A&E if you’ve got an infection and you develop any of these symptoms you need to get to A&E fast because sepsis can kill within 24 hours.”

She asked people to watch out for a number of symptoms, urging people that if they have had a paper cut – no matter how small – or an infection of any kind such as a UTI like Kim had, to get help as soon as possible and not to wait around.

Stressing what to keep an eye out for, she said: “Watch out for speech and confusion, extreme shivering and muscle pain, passing little or no urine in a day, severe breathlessness, it feels that you’re going to die, skin mottled or discoloured skin, cold limbs.

“I had extremely cold hands and feet, other people reported that they have had vomiting and passed out. So anything like that with an infection is serious, it’s a medical emergency and needs treatment immediately with IV antibiotics and IV fluids.”

Touching on medication, she said: “Oral antibiotics will not work so don’t think ‘oh it’s alright on antibiotics’. No, it won’t work. So please, please get to A&E. Please share this information with your friends and loved ones. Millions of people are dying every single day in the world because they don’t know about sepsis. Every three seconds someone in the world dies, we need to be awareness, we need people to learn about this, we need people to stop thinking ‘it won’t happen to me’ because it can happen to you, and it did happen to me.”

She concluded with a poignant message saying: “I was lucky I survived, most people die. Keep safe, keep learning symptoms, tell your loved ones, keep them safe too.”

NHS sepsis warning

Who is more likely to get sepsis?

The NHS says: “Anyone with an infection can get sepsis. Some people are more likely to get an infection that could lead to sepsis, including:

• babies under 1, particularly if they’re born early (premature) or their mother had an infection while pregnant
• people over 75
• people with diabetes
• people with a weakened immune system, such as those having chemotherapy treatment or who recently had an organ transplant
• people with a genetic disorder that affects their immune system, such as people with Down’s syndrome or sickle cell disease
• people who have recently had surgery or a serious illness
• women who have just given birth, had a miscarriage or had an abortion

It adds: “If you’re more likely to get an infection that could lead to sepsis and you become unwell, get medical help as soon as you can. Let the medical team know about any conditions you have or reasons why you might be more at risk. You cannot catch sepsis from another person. It happens when your body overreacts to an infection.”