Carol Voderman health: The deadly condition which left the star ‘six hours from death’

Carol Voderman, 61, became a household name thanks in part to her presenting on Countdown which she worked on for 26 years. The sultry star became a fan favourite due to her alluring looks, however, Carol is far more than just a pretty face having attended the prestigious Cambridge University at the tender age of 17, making her the youngest woman ever admitted at the time. Carol opened up about a terrifying and life-threatening illness that left her “about six hours from death.”

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The star retold her shocking experience on Twitter. Recalling how she noticed something was wrong and began suffering from “excruciating” gallbladder pain, she wrote: “On a Saturday evening in 2004 I was rushed to hospital in London.

“I’d been suffering badly for a few years from gallbladder pain. I’d had a bad bout of it, but this time nothing I usually did to calm it down was working.

“After 2/3 days of excruciating pain I knew something was different.

“I felt as though I was slipping away somehow and asked my family to get me to the hospital.

“They did. I think it was by ambulance but I was slipping in and out of consciousness by that time. And thank God the doctor running A&E that night was aware of sepsis.

“He was Dr David Nott who recognised the symptoms, he rushed me onto heavy antibiotics.

“A long time later, he told me my organs were beginning to close down and I was about 6 hours from death.”

What is sepsis?

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body’s response to an infection.

The body normally releases chemicals into the bloodstream to fight an infection.

Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to these chemicals are out of balance, triggering changes that can damage multiple organ systems, noted the Mayo Clinic.

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What are the symptoms to look out for

The Mayo Clinic said: “To be diagnosed with sepsis, you must have probable or confirmed infection and all of the following signs including a change in mental status, a first number in a blood pressure reading or a respiratory rate higher than or equal to 22 breaths a minute.

“Sepsis can progress to septic shock when certain changes in the circulatory system, the body’s cells and how the body uses energy become more abnormal. Septic shock is more likely to cause death than sepsis is.”

Carol added: “Sepsis strikes fast, VERY fast, but it is curable if it’s recognised. It took nearly a week before Dr Nott was able to operate on my gall bladder.

“It was still hugely swollen and that was a 5 hour operation. Another week in the hospital and then I went back home.

“I can’t agree more with those who want to raise awareness of this killer @UKSepsisTrust … thanks to quick intervention my children still had their mother, my mother still had her daughter and I still had a chance to live.”

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