Nurse on Christmas Day

A NURSE was given just an hour to live after a deadly sepsis.

Jessica Dlugasch was one of the most beautiful people on Christmas Day after her husband. Aaron, found her hallucinating and shivering on their bedroom floor.

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Doctors warned the dad-of-two his wife of 12 years was serious, and his life hung in the balance.

They have been shown to be battling sepsis, one of the deadliest conditions caused by the immune system responding abnormally to an infection.

Those 60 minutes were the longest of Aaron's life, as he waited, willing his wife to survive.

Miraculously she did, having made it through that vital hour, Jessica, from Pennsylvania, spent six days in intensive care before she was discharged on New Year's Day.

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"I'm lucky to be alive," she said.

"It was the holidays, and supposed to be a family time to celebrate, but instead I was in the hospital on the brink of death."

The 38-year-old was struck down with a long working day, despite having her flu jab.

When she woke up on December 23 2016, Jessica struggled to even turn her head.

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Her temperature was 39C – two degrees above normal – so her husband took her to hospital, where doctors confirmed she had flu.

The mum-of-two was given to ease her fever and pain, and she was feeling at home and enjoying Christmas.

"We are Jewish, so it is Christmas, Hannukkah also fell between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day that year, so we were celebrating that too," she said.

Doctors confirmed I was in septic shock and, because my fever had been so high, they really thought I might die

Jessica Dlugasch

"I had my grandmother over and the house was all decked out in readiness for the family celebrations."

Jessica's goal is deteriorated, and on Christmas morning, Arron found her husband blue and shivering in their bedroom.

"I was in a really bad way," Jessica, mum to Benjamin, now and Aviva, now three, said.

"My temperature was 40.5C and I felt absolutely awful.

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"Lying in bed, Aaron called me an ambulance and I was taken to Capital Health Hospital in Hopewell, New Jersey, where we were living at the time."

Emergency blood tests have been shown to be high levels of sepsis which, according to the Sepsis Alliance, may be an indication of sepsis.

In a terrible state, that was when Jessica's husband Aaron was given the most earth-shattering news – his wife could have just one hour left to live.

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SPOT THE SIGNS What is sepsis? Learn the warning signs here …

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"Doctors confirmed I was in septic shock, because my fever had been so high, they really thought I might die," she said.

"I was given because of the causes of antibiotics, just to get rid of the infection.

"I was in a bad way, hallucinating still and in a lot of bread."

Put on morphine for the bread, Jessica made the crucial hour, then lay in the intensive care unit for six days, with her desperate husband keeping a vigil at her bedside.

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Medics believed Jessica contracted sepsis, because her flu caused a chest infection, which caused pneumonia.

According to the UK Sepsis Trust, the disease can occur anywhere in the body, including a chest infection causing pneumonia.

Symptoms include:

• slurred speech
• confusion
• extreme shivering
• muscle bread
• not pbading urine
• severe breathlessness
• feeling as if you will die
• having mottled or discolored skin

Jessica added: "They thought I was so infectious that Aaron could only come up with a mask, gown and shoe protectors on.

"This meant our children could not visit either, which was just awful."

After regaining her strength, on December 30, Jessica was moved out of an intensive care ward, where she stayed on New Year's Eve.

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It was the first time it was spent away from Aaron in their then 16-year relationship.

Instead of having bad in the evening, by staying on the phone all night.

She added: "We're still sleeping, just so we could be together. "

Now she wants to raise awareness of sepsis, which kills everyone in the UK.

She said: "I want to raise awareness of sepsis and make sure other people recognize the symptoms.

"I was very lucky to make it, but I thought it was terrifying and lonely."

To donate to Jessica's funding page go to her page GoFundMe page.

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