Local mom beats sepsis twice, wants to save others



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PADUCAH – She lost her uncle and her friend after being beaten twice. Now Kayla Irick is speaking to save the lives of others.

Sepsis is most commonly known for its lethality for hospitalized patients, but anyone infected is at risk.

Irick has a notebook of memories, but not the good one. "I have the impression that I'm choking," she read in her notebook.

These notes come from when she was alive. Some notes make sense. Some do not do it.

"At the age of 22, I almost had a cardiac arrest due to an infection spreading in my body," said Irick. It started with a kidney stone that had to be removed.

By the time the doctors came out, his body was in septic shock. "I had a temperature of 108 degrees. I woke up lifting ice on my body, "she said. "I could hear the nurses say my statistics. My (blood pressure) was 60 out of 20. Pulse was 199. "

She had sepsis. It is a reaction that puts your body at risk because of an infection. "It usually starts with a common infection, maybe pneumonia or urinary tract infection, and for whatever reason, your body, instead of fighting the infection, will come on and start fighting," said Tammy Brown. .

She works at Baptist Health. It teaches hospital staff to recognize sepsis more quickly. "Some patients come to us very late, so whatever we try to do is sometimes not enough."

In Irick's case, it was almost too late. "Over time, the organs of my body began to fail," said Irick. "My intestines have stopped working. My kidneys stopped.

"Nobody knew if I was going to get there."

Three years later, she contracted sepsis again, but this time she knew what to look for. "The sooner you catch it, the better you are," said Irick.

She is not alone. Every two minutes, a person in the United States dies of sepsis. This statistic comes from Sepsis Alliance.

Irick hopes his experience will help another person before it's too late.

Symptoms of sepsis already include serious infection, fever, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat and confusion. If you are treated for an infection and you start to feel worse, it is important that you consult a doctor immediately.

September is Sepsis Awareness Month.

You can find more information about this story and others by following Leah Shields on Facebook and Twitter.

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