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When Andrew Kane was bitten by a horsefly at work, he was not concerned in the slightest.
The red mark had only caused some slight itchiness, and antibiotics prescribed by doctors seemed to solve things.
But just weeks later the farm worker, 31, was dead, after collapsing on a night out and then developing sepsis while at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington, Northumberland.
Mr Kane, who has a daughter, spent weeks in a coma, showing excruciating signs of recovery at various stages, before passing away on September 18.
His mother Rachel, 52, was by his side throughout his hospital stay and paid tribute to her son ahead of his funeral today.
She said: ‘He was a big strong lad. I could never have imagined that a fly bite could come to this. It’s been horrendous.
‘He just started to go downhill very quickly. I was with him right to the end.
‘I feel really broken. I keep going through things in my mind. I don’t feel like it’s real. I don’t think it’s hit me. I just feel really lost.’
When Andrew Kane, pictured, right, with his mother Rachel, was bitten by a horsefly at work, he was not concerned in the slightest. But two weeks later he was dead
Mr Kane was raised by a farming family in Widdrington but his job took him all over the country.
He followed in his family’s footsteps, working mainly on dairy farms, but also tried out painting and decorating.
The mother-of-three was living with her son at her home in Morpeth at the time of his horror bite two months ago.
Mr Kane was attacked by the insect on a farm in Shrewsbury, Shropshire and it was his mother who persuaded him to head to the doctors to get it seen.
‘He wasn’t concerned,’ she said. ‘You think it’s gone red and it’s itchy and you think it’s getting better. But the hole in his arm never seemed to heal.’
Antibiotics seemed to solve things, but he suddenly fell to the ground while drinking with a friend in Morpeth and rushed to Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington.
He battled sepsis for five weeks, during which time he was transferred to Newcastle’s Freeman hospital where he was placed in an induced coma, before showing signs of recovery.
‘They had all sorts of hope for him,’ his mother said. ‘But it came back with a vengeance and started spreading really quickly and his organs started shutting down.
The farm worker pictured with his stepfather. He collapsed on a night out two weeks after the bite and developd sepsis while at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital
‘I stayed with him all the time in hospital. I found it very hard to just go away.
‘Even when he came round. On a night time they were sending me home.’
She added: ‘He kept asking if I had told his friends he was in hospital. He said if I didn’t tell them they wouldn’t know to come to his funeral.
‘He was making me bring chocolates in for the nurses that were bathing him. I think he knew [he was dying]. He wanted to thank them.’
Since her son’s death, Ms Kane has realised just how popular he was.
‘He made a lot of friends,’ she said. ‘He made friends that I didn’t even know about. They are just coming forward to me saying what a good laugh he was,’ she said.
‘He was such a big character. He was very funny and he was very caring. He was a family man.
‘We were very close and he was very protective,’ she added. ‘We would go on nights out and we went on holiday together.’
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused when the body releases chemicals to fight an infection.
These chemicals damage the body’s own tissues and organs and can lead to shock, organ failure and death, especially if not recognised early and treated immediately.
Sepsis infects an estimated 245,000 Australians each year, killing between 48,000 and 49,000.
The symptoms can look like gastro or flu and can become deadly, rapidly.
The six major signs of something potentially deadly can be identified by the acronym ‘SEPSIS’:
- Slurred speech or confusion, lethargy, disorientation
- Extreme shivering or muscle pain, fever or low temperature
- Pressing a rash doesn’t make it fade
- Severe breathlessness, rapid breathing
- Inability to pass urine for several hours
- Skin that’s mottled or discoloured
Children may also show convulsions or fits, and a rash that doesn’t fade when you press it – and more than 40 per cent of cases occur in children under five.
Anyone who develops these symptoms should seek medical help urgently — and ask doctors: ‘Could this be sepsis?’
The early symptoms of sepsis can be easily confused with more mild conditions, making it difficult to diagnose.
A high temperature (fever), chills and shivering, a fast heartbeat and rapid breathing are also indicators.
It is most common and dangerous in older adults, pregnant women, children younger than one, people with chronic conditions or those who have weakened immune systems.
