She has been sharing her remarkable recovery on TikTok
A woman who had to have her fingers amputated after she contracted sepsis has been sharing her remarkable story of resilience and recovery in a number of humorous videos featuring her 'shark hand.'
Sadie Kemp, 34, was rushed to hospital after experiencing pains in her back on Christmas Day last year. This was revealed to be the result of a kidney stone which had caused an infection, but by Boxing Day she had entered septic shock, a potentially life-threatening condition that leads to the body attacking its own tissue and organs.
As a result of this, she was put into an induced coma for 11 days before being placed on life support in intensive care.
Her fingers had to be amputated, but to keep blood flowing to her arms, doctors sewed Sadie's hands into her abdomen.
When they were removed, she was left with what she has described as a hand that "looks like a shark."
Documenting her recovery on TikTok (
@sadiessepsisjourney), Sadie, from Peterborough, has been praised for the way she has dealt with her shocking experience, using her sense of humour in several videos.
One video, in which she is having her hand washed by nurses whilst she hums the
Jaws theme tune, has gathered more than 77m views and just under 3m likes since it was uploaded.
In another video, one of her doctors explains how they treated her sepsis, and the process of sewing her hands into her abdomen.
Speaking to the
Mirror about her viral videos, Sadie said she started "to do shark videos as I thought it was pretty funny."
She explained: “I looked at it for the first time and I moved what was left of my thumb and I was just like wow it looks like a shark."
She added: "I have lost a lot through sepsis, my limbs, a relationship, independence and I just don’t want it happening to as many people as it does happen to. I want to raise awareness about the dangers of sepsis".
One of Sadie's friends, Stephanie, set up a GoFundMe for the mother-of-two, which has
so far raised almost £30,000 at the time of writing.
Earlier this month, Stephanie told the
Peterborough Telegraph that the response to the fundraiser had been 'overwhelming.'
“It's been crazy,” she said. “It was difficult to keep up and say thank you to everyone who donated and reply to all the lovely emails of support for Sadie which came through.
“Sadie cried on the phone to me last week because she was just so overwhelmed by it. She couldn’t believe the response.”
For more information about sepsis, its symptoms, and how dangerous it can be you can
visit the NHS website or
the Sepsis Trust.
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