How sepsis took the life of ex-Republic of Ireland player’s mother

Former Republic of Ireland soccer international Stephen Carr has described how his mother Teresa Carr died from Sepsis last Christmas after she had complained initially of suffering flu-like symptoms.

“For her to go from having a bit of flu to passing away was quite a shock,” says Carr.

The retired defender was capped 44 times before retiring from international duty in 2007. He joined others ahead of World Sepsis Day who have lost loved ones to raise awareness about the condition that kills 3,000 people in Ireland annually.

Sepsis, which can be difficult to diagnose, is the body’s abnormal response to infection that results in the immune system attacking its own tissue and organs and leading to death if not treated quickly.

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“My mam just had a normal flu over the Christmas period and she wasn’t really shaking it off. A week . . . eight days later, she was still struggling a bit. And then, around 2.30am in the morning, my dad had to take her into hospital. She was really struggling, disorientated, not looking great,” says Carr.

“She just deteriorated. The doctors did everything they could, but it was just too late. I think, which we didn’t realise [then], she had sepsis going on. My mam was quite a healthy woman. She was 64, went to the gym a good few times times a week; it was quite a shock.”

Carr advises people to “question everything if you’re not getting better. You don’t want to go to the hospital for nothing, but if your body ain’t changing and you can’t shake it, you need to go into hospital. Go into A&E and ask the question, ‘have I got sepsis now’?”