A campaign has been launched to increase awareness of the dangers posed by blood poisoning in the farming community in Cumbria and North Yorkshire.
The new initiative was prompted by the tragic case of livestock farmer Hannah Brown, who died last year from the condition, leaving behind her a wide circle of family and friends, including her fiancé Ben Richardson, from Dufton, and their daughter Millie, as well as her parents Martin and Val Brown.
Many of those who knew and loved Hannah have been supporting the Sepsis Trust, which works to increase awareness of a condition which affects more than 245,000 people across the UK each year and causes at least 48,000 deaths.
The victims include many farmers who have picked up cuts during their work which they shrugged off as unimportant injuries which would sort themselves out.
The trust’s new rural campaign is based around a video released this week to coincide with what would have been Hannah’s 28th birthday. It features a number of those who knew Hannah and also survivors of sepsis, including Anna Foot and Julie Smith, both from the Dufton area.
Anna suffered sepsis following keyhole surgery on her knee in March of this year and began to feel unwell a couple of weeks later, but says that although she was aware of the condition because of Hannah she would not have sought help unless her wife, Carole Alletson, had insisted.
“I think I’m a pretty sensible person but that weekend I wasn’t like myself,” she said. “You don’t realise that you aren’t behaving normally — everything is messed up. It was my wife who said ‘something’s not right here’ and that’s why I went to see the doctor.”
After seeking help she had to have two further operations to “swoosh” the infection from her knee and also took antibiotics to fight the sepsis.
She said she “100 per cent backs” the need for farmers to be aware of the dangers of sepsis and make the time to get medical advice if they feel unwell after suffering an injury, adding that it is almost more important that people in farming keep an eye on each other for signs of the condition.
A similar message came from Julie, who got sepsis after cutting her arm and went to hospital because she knew what the signs were. “If I hadn’t gone that day it would have been a very different story,” she said.
The launch of the video was welcomed by Dorne Richardson, Ben’s mum, who has been the driving force behind a campaign which has raised more than £65,000 for the Sepsis Trust. She has been pressing for more effort to be put into increasing awareness of the condition in rural communities.
Dorne said: “I think they’ve nailed it. There were quite a few edits to get it so people will stop, watch it and get the message about sepsis. We’re now trying to get it out there so people will see it.”
She added that the campaign was initially being launched in Cumbria and North Yorkshire, with the plan being to roll it out nationally.
