BBC WM breakfast host: 'I nearly died from sepsis ordeal'
"I would have died. They saved my life at Sandwell Hospital. They literally saved my life."
BBC WM presenter Samantha Meah spent three weeks in hospital after suddenly going into septic shock just before conducting an on-air interview.
After two blood transfusions, and a spell in intensive care, the relieved presenter appeared back on the radio today to chat about her terrifying ordeal.
She had only just started presenting her new morning show Sam & Daz - with co-host Daz Dale - on January 14 before being rushed off in an ambulance four days later.
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Speaking to Daz this morning on their breakfast show, Sam said: "I didn't realise that it was sepsis at the time, but I was suddenly frozen cold.
"I was shaking, my teeth were chattering. I could not open the computer that was in front of me. I knew something was seriously wrong.
"We were about to interview Faye Tozer from Strictly and I was all excited about that, but was so incapable of doing anything.
"So an ambulance was called and they took 45 minutes to stabilise me. I was taken to Sandwell Hospital where I was seen and treated extremely quickly."
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that comes when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.
UK Sepsis Trust said it kills 52,000 per year - five people per hour.
Antibiotic treatment should start within an hour of diagnosis to reduce the risk of serious complications or death.
Sam added: "I had a CT scan and discovered that I had been walking around for some time with a perforated bowel, because I have diverticular disease as a lot of people do.
"In my case I had an episode I was unaware of; I had a perforation in the bowel, that had caused an infection. The infection had spread to my liver, so I had abscesses on my liver and then the infection in turn spread to my lungs. So I was full of nasty and unpleasant infection."
Diverticular disease is a condition that affects the large bowel. It happens when small pouches develop in the lining of the bowel and push out through the bowel wall - which in some people can cause stomach pain.
Her co-presenter Daz Hale has called Sam 'a pro' and asked her what would have happened if she had gone into septic shock at home.
She replied: "I would have died. They saved my life at Sandwell. I was in intensive care for a few days, had two blood transfusions and I was in there for three weeks. They literally saved my life."
