A university student nearly died after brushing off her symptoms as a bad hangover. Elle Black, 21, was in her first year of studies when a drunken evening watching Six Nations rugby with friends was followed by an illness that almost killed her.
She said everyone, including herself, initially mistook her symptoms when she woke up feeling 'dreadful' as a hangover, causing her to delay getting treatment. But when the feeling didn't pass she realised something was seriously wrong as she became overwhelmingly drowsy, couldn't keep any food down, and developed a high fever that left her swinging between feeling hot and cold.
An online GP consultation was arranged, where laryngitis was suspected and antibiotics were prescribed, but by that point, Elle was already too unwell to collect the prescription.
Turning point
The turning point came when intense muscle pain set in and she took herself straight to hospital and was told if she had waited just 12 hours longer she may not have survived. Elle, a first-class graduate in Media, Journalism and Culture from Cardiff University, said she had been watching Six Nations with friends – Scotland vs Wales and England vs Italy – the day before she became ill.
She said: “Naturally, everyone, including me at first, assumed I was just suffering from a bad hangover. I later realised this wasn’t a hangover or a virus. It was something much more serious. I went straight to hospital.”
When Elle arrived at hospital, she told the team she was worried it could be sepsis. They took her seriously immediately. She was triaged within 15 minutes and less than half an hour after arriving, she was already receiving IV antibiotics and fluids.
Diagnosis and recovery
Doctors later confirmed that her sepsis had developed from quinsy, a serious complication of tonsillitis. Elle was started on IV antibiotics and fluids at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, before later moving onto oral antibiotics as she improved. She remained in hospital for several days while doctors monitored her condition and confirmed the infection was under control.
She added: “That speed is the reason I’m still here.” Before she was discharged, doctors told Elle that if she had waited even 12 hours longer before seeking help, her outcome could have been very different.
At the time, Elle didn’t fully grasp how serious her condition was and it was only a few days later, as she began to recover, that the full reality of how ill she had been set in. Her mother still describes it as the scariest day of her life.
Campaign for awareness
Elle, who currently works at a retirement village in Warwickshire, where she helps organise events for residents, is also a keen runner and cold-water swimmer and is currently training for the London Marathon. Her sepsis scare was in February 2024, during her first year at Cardiff. Although Elle made a full recovery, she said getting there took time.
Elle is sharing her story because she wants people to understand a simple truth: sepsis can happen to anyone, at any age, at any level of fitness. She was 18 years old when it happened to her.
Her suggestion is a direct one for universities and students’ unions: “Personally, I think recognising the symptoms of sepsis should be a mandatory part of university induction.” Her message to others is simple: “Make yourself aware of the symptoms of sepsis. It can happen to absolutely anyone. Trust your instincts.”
A spokesperson for Sepsis Research FEAT said: "We are so grateful to Elle for sharing her story to raise awareness of sepsis among students and young people, and for campaigning for sepsis symptom recognition to become part of university induction."
