Solicitor mum of two dies from sepsis five days after scratching her hand gardening

A mother of two died from sepsis after scratching the back of her hand while she was gardening, her family has revealed.

Lucinda Smith, 43, went to see her GP after feeling pain in her shoulder following the minor scrape, in March last year.

The doctor diagnosed a trapped nerve and prescribed anti-depressants to relax her and she was also told to see a physiotherapist.

Three days later her fingers and arm had become red and swollen, she was vomiting and in much worse pain. She then saw another GP who diagnosed a possible blood clot and told her to go to A&E.

Staff at Basildon Hospital’s casualty department gave her a simple blood test straight away and 30 minutes later she was diagnosed with sepsis and put on intravenous antibiotics.

But after being moved to a critical care ward, Ms Smith, from Billericay, Essex, began to suffer organ failure and died.

Her sister Caroline told Mail Online: “Had Lucy initially been given that simple blood test and received the treatment that she needed on the Friday when she saw a GP I am convinced that the outcome would have been a positive one. Megan and George would still have their wonderful, beautiful mummy.”

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition triggered by an infection or injury.

More than 44,000 people die from sepsis every year, and thousands more from other bacterial infections, often because doctors and nurses fail to distinguish their symptoms from those of less-serious viral conditions.

Warning signs | Sepsis

Sepsis, also referred to as blood poisoning or septicaemia, is a potentially life-threatening condition triggered by an infection or injury. Warning signs include:

a high temperature (fever) or low body temperature

chills and shivering

a fast heartbeat

fast breathing