From Sore Throat to Sepsis: My Shocking Journey from Coma to Survival

WHEN Jennifer Gavin came down with a sore throat, she thought it was nothing more than a winter bug.

But just weeks later, the 32-year-old, from Greenock, Scotland, was close to death in an induced .

Jennifer brushed off her flu-like symptomsCredit: Cover Images Days later, she was in hospital with sepsisCredit: Cover Images

In September 2024, Jennifer was fit and active, playing netball up to five times a week and loving life in London, until she began to feel unwell.

“My work colleagues and friends all had sore throats and colds around the same time I started feeling unwell, so I genuinely thought nothing of it,” she explained.

Jennifer was flying to Porto for the weekend to celebrate her birthday when he throat started feeling “sore.”

“It was only when I reached the airport that I started feeling achy and really tired,” she added. It was at this point that she “assumed” she must have the flu.

Jennifer’s mum had once had , and the thought did cross her mind that her developing symptoms could be a sign of something more serious.

In Porto, she Googled sepsis symptoms as her shivering and sweating had gone up a level.

But because she could still urinate as normal, she convinced herself it wasn’t sepsis.

Back in the UK, Jennifer went to the GP as she has and is immunosuppressed.

“I thought it could be more serious as I just wasn’t getting any better and I believed that I was dehydrated,” Jennifer said.

“The GP suspected I had flu and I was sent home for bed rest.”

Diagnosing sepsis is very difficult, and Jennifer wasn’t told that she had sepsis until very late onCredit: Cover Images

A few days later, on the evening of Friday September 13 Jennifer could hear her heart pounding in her chest.

She wasn’t feeling any better so she decided to pick the phone up and call 111.

The operator said as she had had a persistent fever for over a week she should go to A&E, which saved her life.

“When I got to A&E and was admitted to Resus, the doctor looked at me and said I was very lucky that I came in as I probably wouldn’t have survived the night,” Jennifer said.

“That was the first time I knew something serious was happening, and my family caught the first flight to London Saturday morning to be at my side.”

Diagnosing sepsis is very difficult, and Jennifer wasn’t told that she had sepsis until very late on.

When she was first admitted to Resus in A&E, doctors disagreed over what was wrong with her.

It went from issues, to a Crohn’s disease flare, to .

“I now understand this is because sepsis was affecting all my organs and making it difficult to understand where the infection started, which slowed down my treatment plan,” Jennifer said.

She added: “Eventually, I was told I had pneumonia, and in one way it was a relief because I knew what that was, I was young and fit and thought it was easily treatable.

“Dealing with a diagnosis of pneumonia compared to a diagnosis of sepsis was very different, and it wasn’t until day two that they said I was septic.

“This caused a lot of distress for me, as immediately sepsis becomes so much more serious than pneumonia, and I knew how lucky my Mum was to survive it.

“It also made me wish I had trusted myself sooner to go to the hospital. It was a big lesson for me in trusting instincts and advocating for myself.”

When she was first admitted to Resus in A&E, doctors disagreed over what was wrong with herCredit: Cover Images

Jennifer started to decline rapidly when she was admitted to hospital due to the hospital team not knowing what caused the infection.

Her treatment consisted of a 10-day ICU stay, six days in a ventilated coma, countless variations of IV due to not knowing what was causing the infection, a chest drain to drain litres of fluid that had collected in her pleural cavity, and a further nine days in hospital.

Blood cultures on day three of her coma discovered that the bug in her blood was Fusobacterium necrophorum, which is usually an infection that causes severe sore throats.

Jennifer didn’t really have time to process what was happening due to delirium and had to begin processing the traumatic experience when she woke up from her coma.

She now wants to raise awareness of the danger of sepsis, especially how it can manifest differently in different people.

“I wish people knew how quickly things can change, and that the faster you get help for symptoms the greater chance you have of recovering,” she said.

“Also, I wish people would trust themselves more and advocate for themselves when they do not think they are getting better, even if they have had a medical opinion during the illness period.”

She added: “Sepsis can affect anyone, and I think me presenting as a fit, young woman perhaps delayed proper treatment.

“I put this into action when I had sepsis for a second time in May 2025 because I noticed the signs quicker: my heart rate was fast, my temperature was elevated, I was achy and sore and I was vomiting.

“I went to the hospital as soon as I landed back in the UK and I was put on IV antibiotics for Urosepsis. This was an overnight admission followed by oral antibiotics compared to the first ordeal that I went through, all because I sought help quicker and trusted that I knew something was wrong with my body.”

Doctors later told her she likely would not have survived had she not returned to hospital when she didCredit: Cover Images

Jennifter wants to raise awareness that sepsis can affect young, fit people and that trusting your instincts and seeking repeat medical help can save lives.

Her motivation is personal: even though her mum had also survived sepsis, Jennifer still did not recognise the symptoms in herself because of how differently the symptoms can manifest.

“I feel really strong and lucky to be here, knowing the outcome could have been very different,” said Jennifer.

“My life is pretty much back to normal, but I don’t think a day will go by that I don’t think about what happened. It has changed me forever but in the best way.

“I’d like to think that I don’t get as stressed about silly things as it has given me a lot of perspective, and it has also been a great motivator for anything hard in life.

“I just think back to being in the hospital room, freshly out of the coma and know if I can recover from that I can do anything!”

Approximately 48,000 people die each year in the UK from sepsis, which equates to five people every hour. And that number is growing.

In April Jennifer will run the London Marathon to raise money for Sepsis Research FEAT , the UK’s leading sepsis research charity.

“Sepsis Research FEAT is the UK’s only sepsis research charity, and it’s so important to me to continue to not only raise awareness of sepsis, but raise vital funds to ensure that more research can be done to understand sepsis and the treatments for it so that more people can survive,” she says.

“I’ve decided to run the London Marathon 2026 for Sepsis Research FEAT, excitingly the first time the charity has had a place in the race.

“This is not only for myself, and to prove just how far I’ve come (the thought of using the same lungs that were so damaged I required a ventilator, to power me through the London marathon is an incredible thought!), but it’s for all those people who weren’t as lucky as I was.

“’Do it for those that can’t’ will be written on my hand on the day to remind myself of the seriousness of sepsis and the awareness that still needs to be done around it.”