‘I thought mum got food poisoning at BBQ – she was dead hours later’ | UK | News
Claire McCormack, 47, died just hours after falling seriously ill (Image: Supplied)
A perfectly healthy mother who tragically believed she was battling food poisoning has passed away just days after a fatal sepsis infection caused her organs to fail.
Claire McCormack, 47, a senior staff nurse in infectious diseases at Forth Valley Royal Infirmary, deteriorated rapidly after waking up feeling seriously unwell on June 23 last year.
Heartbroken daughter Steph Burgoyne, 20, revealed the family initially assumed Claire had contracted a stomach bug or food poisoning after attending a neighbour’s barbecue just two days earlier.
But within hours of arriving at A&E, Claire was delirious, her skin was bruised and doctors had no choice but to put her into an induced coma due to multiple organ failure caused by sepsis.
Steph recalled that her mother, affectionately nicknamed “Turbo” by her colleagues for her boundless energy, never regained consciousness and passed away six days later. Daily Record reports.
She said: “My mother called in sick for work on Monday morning, because she had been up all night with a stomach ache and was generally unwell. The day before, she was completely fine, everything was normal.
Claire McCormack, 47, was a senior staff nurse in infectious diseases at Forth Valley Royal Hospital. (Image: Supplied)
“He had been to a neighbour’s barbecue on Saturday, so the only thing we could think of was that he might have had food poisoning.
“I was working from home and kept checking on him, but by 10am he was in severe pain so I called our doctors. They advised me to call emergency services and I eventually decided to take him to AandE at his hospital.” Claire, from Falkirk, was seen immediately upon arrival at hospital and underwent a battery of tests, but paramedics were unable to pinpoint the cause of her sudden decline.
Apprentice IT consultant Steph said: “I started calling them while my grandmother and step-dad were doing tests for Sandy as it was rapidly deteriorating. We were racking our brains throughout the week trying to think of anything that could have caused it.”
Within hours, medical staff made the decision to place Claire in a coma in intensive care and begin dialysis.
Steph said: “My mum wasn’t responding to any medication. She suffered multiple organ failure and I couldn’t understand the doctor telling me she could die.
“In the blink of an eye, he had gone from having a normal weekend, dancing at a barbecue, to fighting for his life. It made no sense.”
Claire McCormack, 47, died just hours after falling seriously ill (Image: Supplied)
By that evening, doctors had begun to suspect sepsis, a potentially fatal condition in which the body’s immune response to infection turns against its own organs.
Despite extensive treatment, Claire’s condition continued to deteriorate and she passed away on Sunday, June 29.
Steph said: “They tried lots of different medications and treatments but he didn’t respond. We later found out he had no spleen, which made it very difficult for him to survive.”
Experts were unable to determine exactly how Claire contracted sepsis and concluded it was “very unlikely” it was caused by her work at the hospital. Steph added: “She spent her whole career caring for others and had so much knowledge about sepsis, which makes losing it even more difficult to understand.
“My mum was the life and soul of the party, the liveliest person you could ever meet. “She was fit and went to the gym.
“This underscores that sepsis is a silent killer that does not discriminate, regardless of your age or health.”
Steph revealed the family, including stepdad Sandy and grandmother Denise, are still finding it incredibly difficult to accept how quickly Claire was taken from them.
They have since launched a fundraising campaign for Sepsis Research FEAT in his honor and are also working to raise awareness of the condition.
She said: “I now have a life ahead of me full of milestones where my mother won’t be there. But the whole family is suffering.
“We’re trying to turn something so terrible into something positive because that’s what he wanted.
“I urge everyone reading this to become familiar with the signs of sepsis – recognizing them early can really save lives.”
For more information about sepsis and its symptoms, visit here.
