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Craig Mackinlay: Tory MP reveals feet and hands were amputated after contracting sepsis

Craig Mackinlay will return to parliament on Wednesday just six months after having four amputations.

Jennifer Scott

Political reporter

Wednesday 22 May 2024 12:20, UK

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Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay has revealed he has had both his hands and feet amputated after contracting sepsis last year.

The MP for South Thanet is due to return to parliament on Wednesday, eight months after he was rushed to hospital.

He told his constituents in December he was diagnosed with sepsis in September 2023 and placed into an induced coma with multiple organ failures.

What is sepsis and what are the symptoms?

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body overreacts to an infection and starts attacking its own tissues and organs.

When diagnosed, sepsis is deemed a medical emergency, but it can be hard to spot by doctors because in adults it can initially feel like flu, a chest infection or gastroenteritis.

But its severity is also often missed in children as the symptoms are attributed to other conditions. These early symptoms include fever, chills and shivering, a fast heartbeat and quick breathing.

Symptoms of sepsis or septic shock include feeling dizzy or faint, nausea and vomiting, confusion or disorientation, diarrhoea and cold, clammy and pale or mottled skin.

Any child who is breathing very fast, has a fit or looks mottled, bluish, or pale, or has a rash that does not fade when you press it, may have sepsis.

Possible signs in children under five years old include not feeding, vomiting repeatedly, or not having a wee or wet nappy for 12 hours.

Sepsis: People with chronic diseases or learning disabilities more likely to die from infection, scientists warn

NHS data showed people with certain conditions and those from a poor background have a higher risk of developing sepsis and are also more likely to die within a month.

Mr Mackinlay added he was "extremely lucky to be alive" and had had some "extreme surgery" as a result of the illness.

Now on the eve of his Commons comeback, he told the BBC he wanted to be the first "bionic MP", having been fitted with prosthetic hands and legs.

He described waking up from his coma and seeing his legs had "turned black", telling the broadcaster: "I haven't got a medical degree but I know what dead things look like.

"I was surprisingly stoic about it... I don't know why I was. It might have been the various cocktail of drugs I was on."

All the amputations took place on 1 December and Mr Mackinlay said a "sombre" Christmas followed.

But he said his four-year-old daughter Olivia "adapted to it very easily... probably better than anybody else frankly, I think children are just so remarkably adjustable".

Now he has his sights set back on Westminster, where after attending Prime Minister's Questions, the MP will meet Rishi Sunak before getting back to the day job.

And he is determined to fight the next election to continue to serve his Kent constituency.

"When children come to parliament's fantastic education centre, I want them to be pulling their parents' jacket or skirts or their teacher and saying: 'I want to see the bionic MP today'."

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