Sepsis Dog Lick: sepsis dog lick warning after Penn woman's quadruple amputation

Manjit Sangha, 56, has issued a warning about sepsis after what doctors believe might have been a sepsis dog lick on a small cut or scratch led to a rapid and devastating illness. The sepsis survivor returned home after 32 weeks in hospital, several cardiac arrests and a quadruple amputation.

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Hospital course and return home

After 32 weeks in hospital, several cardiac arrests and a quadruple amputation, sepsis survivor Manjit Sangha has finally returned home. Despite medics thinking the 56-year-old would almost certainly die, she left Ward 9 at Moseley Hall in Birmingham on Wednesday and received a hero's welcome from her family in Penn, on the Wolverhampton/Staffordshire border.

How doctors link it to a pet

Doctors believe her sepsis might have been caused by something as innocent as a lick from her dog on a small cut or scratch. Manjit Sangha now wants to warn others of the danger of sepsis, saying "it could happen to anybody".

Rapid decline and family recollections

Manjit, who worked seven days a week before her illness, returned home on a Sunday afternoon in July last year feeling unwell. By the following morning she was unconscious; her hands and feet were ice-cold, her lips had turned purple and she was struggling to breathe. "Your mind is all over the place, " said her husband Kam Sangha. "You're thinking 'how can this happen in less than 24 hours?' One minute on a Saturday she's playing with the dog, Sunday she's gone to work, Monday night she's in a coma. "

Intensive care, amputations and complications

While in intensive care at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, Manjit Sangha's heart stopped six times. Surgeons at Russells Hall Hospital in neighbouring Dudley later had to amputate both of her legs below the knee, as well as both of her hands, due to the spread of the condition. The former pharmacy worker also lost her spleen, battled pneumonia and developed gallstones which she was told might require further surgery.

Personal reflections and warnings

Manjit described the experience: "It's difficult to explain the experience, " she said. "Losing your limbs and your hands in a short time period is a very big thing. It's very serious and not to be taken lightly. " She added, "I didn't know what was happening. The first month I do not remember anything. " As she recovers and begins to rebuild her life, her message is a simple caution that a sepsis dog lick or similar minor event can lead to catastrophic illness.

What sepsis is and its signs

Sepsis is a rare but serious medical condition which occurs when the body's immune system, which is meant to fight against disease and infection, starts to attack the body's own tissues and organs. The NHS says it is life-threatening and can be hard to spot, while the UK Sepsis Trust says there are about 50, 000 sepsis-related deaths in the UK each year. In adults, symptoms can include but are not limited to slurred speech, extreme shivering or muscle pain, severe breathlessness and skin that is mottled or discoloured.

Manjit Sangha's case — from what doctors believe began with a dog lick on a small cut or scratch to a rapid decline in less than 24 hours, multiple cardiac arrests, and extensive surgery — underlines the speed and severity sepsis can reach. She and her family have urged awareness, stressing "it could happen to anybody. " The sepsis dog lick connection remains the doctors' working belief in this case.

She continues recovery at home after the long hospital stay, confronting the practical and medical challenges that followed her amputations and other complications.