A 27-year-old mother from Carmarthenshire, Wales, nearly died after mistaking a deadly sepsis infection for winter flu. Roberta Alisauskaite initially dismissed her symptoms, including a high temperature and shaking, as a cold she may have caught at work.
On 20 October, her condition rapidly deteriorated. She became delirious, slurred her words, and lost consciousness in bed. Her two sons, Sean, 8, and Koby, 6, realised something was wrong and called 999. Their grandmother took over the call and rushed Roberta to hospital after being told the ambulance wait was three hours.
At the hospital, Roberta's temperature was 40.2°C. She underwent a chest X-ray, CT scan, and ultrasound to find the source of the infection, but doctors could not locate it. She was discharged on 23 October. Her consultant suggested the infection may have been caused by a combination of a cold or flu-like illness and an abscess in her wisdom tooth, but this has not been confirmed.
Roberta said her sons were traumatised by the ordeal. She is now raising awareness of sepsis symptoms, which include slurred speech, extreme shivering, breathlessness, muscle pain, and confusion. 'As mums we just get on with it,' she said. 'If I was left any longer, I could have died.'
