A Borgue man has celebrated an extra special New Year by beating sepsis for the second time.
Ian Cameron-Smith almost died after first contracting the potentially fatal blood infection in January 2019.
Specialist medics at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary saved his life then. And their swift intervention was required again when sepsis struck two weeks ago.
Mr Cameron-Smith, 67, was at the dentist’s when blood tests showed signs of infection.
He said: “I thought I was repeating what happened to me a year ago. I started getting needle pains in my jaw and my throat started swelling up. I was having difficulty breathing.
“Rather than continue treatment, the dentist sent me immediately to A&E at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary where they were incredible. They were on the case straight away and caught it in time.
“They checked my previous records from a year ago and consulted with the medical team. I was put on antibiotics very quickly for suspected sepsis and that nipped it in the bud.”
Mr Cameron-Smith was tested for blood infection on Christmas Eve and results came back clear.
“It was a feeling of total relief after the panic stations,” he said.
“It was the best Christmas present ever.”
The father-of–five, who runs bespoke furniture company Woodstock Interiors in Kirkcudbright, almost succumbed to sepsis after undergoing dental surgery last January.
He believes treatment with a different dentist allowed contaminated material to get into his bloodstream.
He said: “I ended up with a terrible infection in my sinuses and it went into my jaw.
“One night I got this bang in my throat and within minutes a lump appeared on my neck.
“It started growing at an incredible rate and I began shaking uncontrollably.
“I was going hot and cold and I knew something was badly wrong. I just jumped in the car and my wife Claire had to drive me to hospital.
“I was in for 10 days.”
He added: “I was told if that I had left it another few hours I could have died.
“I kept thinking that I’m not ready for this yet.
“There were so many things I still wanted to do.
“I have my five kids and my granddaughter to think about. All this stuff goes through your head.
“Now I value friends and family more.
“I cannot praise the incredible care I received highly enough – it was second to none.
“Specialists were coming in three or four times a day. “I owe the medical team at DGRI my life.”
Ian has been left with Post Sepsis Syndrome (PSS) from which he is steadily recovering.
“It can affect you psycholgically and can go for your nervous system and joints,” he said.
“It’s something you have to be very careful about.
“My GP analysed it and put me on pretty crazy drugs.
“Hopefully after 18 months I should be clear again.
“It just shows how vulnerable you can become.”
Asked what anyone suspecting sepsis should do, Ian said: “Don’t hang about – go straight to A&E.
“They know what they are doing.
