Nail biter? We’re sure that will change when you hear what happened to this grandpa. Ricky Kennedy, 57, was left struggling to survive after his nail-biting led him to develop sepsis. He’d always had the habit, but this time, it led to a potentially deadly outcome. When he received his diagnosis, doctors gave Ricky only 50-50 odds of surviving Luckily, he recovered after a few months of hospitalisation.
Sepsis can develop when our bodies respond to bacteria by turning on its own cells and organs.Ricky’s first warning sign was a blister which appeared on his finger. His physician gave him antibiotics to treat it.Sadly, however, it spread rapidly across his hands, arms, and upper torso. He was in so much pain that he figured he was having a myocardial infarction. Ricky also suffers from Diabetes Type II. After being released from care last year, he continued taking antibiotics for another 2 months.
He recalled: ‘I don’t remember a thing from when I was first taken to hospital. All I can remember is asking a nurse if I was going to die. It was a terrible time and you sink into a depression being stuck in hospital for that long. I just wanted to come home but we were so lucky to have so many people visit and help us through it.’
Kennedy’s wife rang emergency services when she got home. At that point the infection was covering his whole body—Ricky could barely stand up or even breathe properly.
His wife explained: ‘By the time the doctor got here it was all spreading down Ricky’s arms and chest.He was absolutely delirious – he didn’t even know what age he was and he could barely breathe or stand up. I didn’t think he was going to make it.’
Although Ricky survived the sepsis, he is awaiting an operation that will treat his collarbone for the damage it left behind. Here’s more on the story: