A father of one from Llanrwst, Wales, nearly died after a toothache developed into a deadly heart infection, leaving him battling sepsis and multiple strokes. Danny Ellis, 42, initially thought a trip to the dentist and antibiotics would cure the agonising pain, but weeks later doctors discovered a hole in his heart valve.
From Toothache to Heart Infection
Danny, who co-owns a SPAR shop in Betws-y-Coed, first experienced the pain during a week away in April. He woke in the middle of the night with an excruciating toothache and took painkillers, planning to call a dentist when he got back. His dentist prescribed antibiotics, which initially appeared to work, but the agony returned in May. An X-ray failed to reveal the cause, and another course of antibiotics brought only temporary relief.
In June, Danny began feeling ill with what seemed like the flu. He said: "I'm never off ill and I just said to some of my staff I was going to have to take the rest of the week off. I really didn't feel right." His wife Ceri spotted red marks across his arms, legs and body, believed to be Janeway lesions, a possible sign of endocarditis. After he spent a day sleeping on the sofa, she booked him a GP appointment for June 23.
Diagnosis and Emergency Treatment
Doctors feared a possible heart attack and called for an ambulance. Danny was rushed to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, where medics monitored him and took blood tests in the ambulance for three hours before he was admitted for MRI, CT scans and X-rays. When he mentioned his dental problems, doctors ordered an echocardiogram, which revealed a hole in his mitral valve. They diagnosed endocarditis, an infection affecting the heart's inner lining, alongside life-threatening sepsis.
Too ill to be transferred immediately to a specialist heart unit in Liverpool, Danny was put on a round-the-clock antibiotic drip. He endured violent bouts of shaking as medics fought to stabilise him. He said: "I was having episodes that were causing strong fits of shivering as if I was freezing, but I was boiling to touch. My body wanted to let go, but I was fighting it."
Abandoned Surgery and Multiple Strokes
Once stable, Danny was taken by critical care ambulance to Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool, where another infection left his lungs filling with fluid. Surgeons attempted to repair his heart valve on July 6, but had to halt the procedure when his blood failed to clot, making it too dangerous to continue. Danny recalled waking to find his brother, surgeon and anaesthetist at his bedside. He said: "I thought the operation went well, but then I was told they had to abort it because my blood was not clotting. That's when I thought it was impossible and I didn't have the strength."
With specialist equipment brought in, surgeons tried again on July 8, this time successfully. But Danny then discovered he had suffered multiple strokes during his illness. He could barely walk, struggled to use his left side and feared his memory had been damaged. He said: "I had a lot of confusion, I couldn't remember the passwords to my phone. I really started to panic." At one point, he was asked the date and told staff it was March 5, 2005.
Danny underwent rehabilitation back in Bangor and was finally discharged on August 19. He is now recovering at home but is still regaining his strength, with the effects of the strokes leaving him unable to do everyday things, including picking up his daughter Harriet Ann, nine. He said: "The envy of seeing other people being able to hold her and walk with her was terrible. I couldn't do that. To this day, I still can't pick her up because I haven't fully got my core strength back."
Danny praised the nurses who helped save his life and noted that his dentist now uses his story as an example to patients, so that they take infections seriously.
