Peterborough student sepsis survivor becomes the face of charity's awareness Christmas campaign

A student sepsis survivor from Peterborough has become one of the faces of a sepsis charity’s Christmas campaign – telling her story to raise awareness of the life-threatening condition.

Harriet Little, 24, from Thorney, was diagnosed with sepsis – the body’s ‘overreaction to an infection’, which can cause tissue and organ damage – in April this year.

Harriet will now be part of charity Sepsis Research FEAT’s latest campaign – helping people to recognise the symptoms of sepsis, which takes the lives of approximately five people every hour in the UK.

“Having suffered from urosepsis [when a urinary tract infection spreads to a person’s kidneys causing sepsis] several times since the spring of this year, as well as septic shock, I feel really lucky to be here to share Christmas with my family and friends,” Harriet, who is a student at Oxford Brookes University and a gold medal-winning member of the Great Britain archery team, said.

"Helping to raise awareness of sepsis and potentially save lives is really important to me.”

Harriet was diagnosed with sepsis after she began shivering while meeting a friend for a coffee.

After visiting an urgent treatment centre and a period of several hospital appointments, Harriet’s mum called 999 after noticing her lips turn blue.

When paramedics arrived, they soon suspected she was showing life critical signs of sepsis.

“In less than 10 minutes of the paramedics being with me, they had me in the back of the ambulance on my way to resus,” she said.

Harriet received treatment at Peterborough City Hospital for three months following her sepsis diagnosis, which included five blood transfusions.

“I am sharing my story as I want to raise awareness about sepsis for the public but also to help medical professionals know all the red flags of sepsis,” she added.

Sepsis Research FEAT’s Christmas campaign is telling the stories of sepsis survivors to raise awareness of the symptoms of sepsis, as well as remembering those who have lost their lives to the condition.

For more information about Sepsis Research FEAT and the charity’s campaign, visit https://sepsisresearch.org.uk