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In the United States, a thirty-year-old contracted sepsis from a small, seemingly innocuous act. Now out of the woods, he only had a 4% chance of survival, according to his doctors.
Steven Spinale, a Texan in apparently good health, probably did not expect to experience real hell the day he decided to extract an ingrown hair from his skin. His act, however, led to septic shock (and a plunge into a coma), from which he could have died. The story documented by his sister on TikTok is now causing a sensation.
Steven’s descent into hell begins at the end of 2022 when the 38-year-old father tries to remove an ingrown hair in his groin. A seemingly basic gesture that we do in our bathroom, without a second thought. But Steven quickly notices that his general condition is deteriorating.
According to the patient’s sister, the doctors consulted did not appreciate the seriousness of the facts and sent the man home one after the other. Until Steven couldn’t breathe and went to the emergency room.
With bacteria in his blood, he comes close to death
At first, the doctors did not understand what was happening to the thirty-year-old. But the patient’s condition declines so much that he must be placed on respiratory assistance. The team eventually discovers a rare bacteria in his blood system, which attacks all his organs. But the septic shock is so catastrophic that an operation is impossible.
Steven must then be placed in an artificial coma and intubated. The pessimistic doctors tell his wife that he only has a 4% chance of survival. But against all odds, after a month of coma and countless treatments – including open heart surgery – Steven emerged without neurological after-effects. More than a year later, he is still learning to walk again, but is completely out of the woods.
“I still think about the day they told us that Steven was brain dead and that we should unplug the machine keeping him alive. What a journey”writes Michelle, her sister, on TikTok.
Recognize the signs of sepsis
A path which undoubtedly owes its happy outcome to the good reaction of the Texan who insisted on seeing a doctor. In a previous article, Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo, explained to us that a simple wound that becomes infected should alert us.
“When we have an injury, an infection, whatever it may be – what we call a gateway in medicine – and we start to observe a local and general evolution, we must react quickly!” underlined our expert. “The challenge is to have a diagnosis quickly, so as not to delay treatment. In sepsis, the first 3 hours are crucial to save the person; we then speak of “golden hours”.
As a reminder, the signs of a deteriorating general condition (even after a cut, or the extraction of a hair, etc.) are as follows;
- A feeling of unease, with confusion, stomach aches, change in general condition, etc.;
- A temperature which increases (presence of fever), or which falls, below 36°;
- Tachycardia (a heart that beats fast and hard);
- Tachypnea (rapid breathing);
- A drop in blood pressure.
“These are signs that should alert you. And in this case, medical advice is necessary” the doctor emphasized.