I dismissed my sore throat as a hangover, then it turned into sepsis

Elle Black thought her sore throat and flu-like symptoms were the aftermath of a night out. The next day, the 21-year-old university student was in hospital being treated for sepsis.

Black was in her first year at Cardiff University when she became ill in February 2024. After returning home in the early hours, she noticed pain at the back of her throat. She took ibuprofen and went to sleep, assuming the symptoms were minor.

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Alarm bells were ringing.

By the following morning, she was exhausted, feverish and unable to eat because her tonsils had swollen. She went for brunch with her parents as planned, but said “alarm bells were ringing,” so she booked a private GP appointment. The doctor diagnosed laryngitis and prescribed antibiotics.

Her condition then deteriorated. Black recalled feeling drowsy, confused and almost delirious. She later learned that she had called her mother and said, “I can’t feel my legs.” At hospital, she was triaged within 15 minutes.

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I can’t feel my legs.

Doctors diagnosed quinsy, a pus-filled abscess that develops between the tonsil and the wall of the throat, which had progressed to sepsis. Black spent two days at the University Hospital of Wales receiving intravenous antibiotics and later made a full recovery.

She credits the outcome to going to hospital quickly, telling staff that she believed she had sepsis, and receiving rapid treatment. Doctors told her that waiting another day could have produced a very different outcome. Black is now encouraging other young people to recognize sepsis symptoms, while the charity Sepsis Research said people should never dismiss symptoms that are severe or worsening.

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If I’d left it another day, it could have been quite different.