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I brushed off my sore throat as a hangover, but it turned into sepsis

Catriona Aitkenand
Nelli Bird,BBC Wales
News imageElle Black A girl with curly dark hair, wearing a white dress and black graduation cap and gown. She is stood in front of a flowerbed of pink flowers, with trees and people in the background, and is smiling at the camera.Elle Black
Elle Black was in her first year at Cardiff University when she developed sepsis as a complication of quinsy

When Elle Black woke up the morning after a night out in February 2024, she felt dreadful.

The 21-year-old, who was in her first year at Cardiff University, believed her sore throat and flu-like symptoms were a hangover and initially "brushed it off".

But the following day she was being treated in hospital for sepsis, a serious reaction to an infection which can be life-threatening. Doctors told her if she had waited another day things could have been "quite different".

Elle is now urging other young people to be aware of the symptoms of sepsis, while the charity Sepsis Research said it was important to never dismiss symptoms that are severe or getting worse.

"I got home in the early hours of the morning and the back of my throat started to hurt, which I thought was strange because I didn't have any other symptoms yet," recalled Elle, who graduated this summer with a degree in journalism, media and culture.

"I took some ibuprofen, shrugged it off, went to sleep. I woke up the next day absolutely exhausted, no energy, really high fever."

News imageElle Black Two girls sat in the stands at a rugby stadium, smiling at the camera and holding pints. The one on the left is brunette, the other blonde, and they are both wearing black puffer jackets.Elle Black
Elle (left) had been out enjoying the Six Nations with friends before she fell ill

Elle, who is originally from Warwickshire, went to get brunch with her parents as planned, but "alarm bells were ringing" because her tonsils were swollen and she was unable to eat, so she booked a private GP appointment for later that day.

The doctor diagnosed her with laryngitis and prescribed antibiotics.

"I was so drowsy, so confused, almost delirious," she recalled.

She said she did not remember much about the following day, but has been told she called her mum and said "I can't feel my legs".

"I got to hospital, triaged within 15 minutes, it was all amazingly quick."

News imageElle Black A girl with long dark hair in two plaits. She is wearing a grey hoodie and has one arm raised above her head with an IV needle in it. She is wearing glasses, and is smiling as she looks at the camera.Elle Black
Elle spent two days in hospital receiving IV antibiotics

Elle had developed quinsy - a complication of tonsillitis where a pus-filled abscess grows between your tonsils and the wall of your throat - which turned into sepsis.

She spent two days at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) but went on to "make a full recovery", which she credits to attending hospital quickly, telling staff she believed she had sepsis, and a fast-acting medical team.

"[The doctors] said if I'd left it another day, it could have been quite different," said Elle.

"You don't really hear about sepsis in this context," she added.

"It was strange for my parents to hear this had happened to their daughter. My mum says it's the scariest thing she's ever gone through.

"They didn't expect me to look so dreadful, they'd never seen my like that. I was completely pale, clammy. They are quite traumatised by it."

She added: "I was exhausted for a couple of weeks after and I was a little bit out for it for a couple of months, just really tired, it does take it out of you. But, other than that, I'm OK.

"They acted quickly and I got to the hospital quickly, but it's so different for everyone."

What is sepsis and what are the symptoms?

Sepsis is a serious reaction to an infection that can be life-threatening which develops very quickly.

Common symptoms are:

  • A high fever, or swinging between feeling very hot and very cold
  • Inability to keep food or fluids down
  • Extreme drowsiness or difficulty staying awake
  • Intense or unusual muscle pain
  • A sore throat or tonsillitis that suddenly worsens
  • A feeling that something is seriously wrong
News imageElle Black A family of four stood in a row with a pink flowerbed and trees behind them, all smiling and looking at the camera. Left to right: a middle-aged man with grey hair wearing a white shirt and grey suit jacket; a young woman with long dark hair wearing a white dress and black graduaiton cap and gown; a young woman with long dark hair wearing a yellow floral-patterned dress and sunglasses on her head; and a middle-aged woman wiht short brown hair, wearing a pink and white paisley-pattern dress and sunglasses on her head.Elle Black
Elle graduated this summer and says she hopes sharing the experience which "traumatised" her family will encourage other students to seek medical advice

In the UK, there are 48,000 sepsis related deaths each year, according to the UK Sepsis Trust.

The charity Sepsis Research said the condition "rarely announces itself clearly".

"It often develops from infections that seem familiar and manageable, which is why it can be so easily overlooked," it added.

"Drowsiness, nausea, exhaustion and feeling generally dreadful after a night out are symptoms many students might put down to alcohol, lack of sleep or freshers' flu.

"Elle's experience shows why it is so important not to dismiss symptoms that are severe, getting worse, or feel out of proportion to what you would normally expect."

Elle will be running the London Marathon for the charity Sepsis Research next year, and is urging anyone who thinks a hangover might be something more to seek medical advice.

"With something as dangerous as sepsis, there's not too many stories where it's OK and it all works out. It's just so scary how fast it is.

"It really does put things into perspective. It's not always a hangover, sometimes it's something worse."

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