Sepsis documentary ‘A Story of Loss, Love and survival’

A Tallaght mother of four who survived sepsis during pregnancy has now produced a documentary about the condition with the Irish Sepsis Foundation.

Kim Wyse, from Tymonville, has Chrones disease and contracted sepsis while she was 23 weeks pregnant in 2016, due to complications from abdominal abscess.

“One minute I thought you know, I just wasn’t feeling well, then the next minute I’m in the hospital being told that my daughter might have to be delivered that night because of how unwell I was,” she told The Echo.

Kim went through a long and complicated recovery, though her daughter was able to hang in and be born at 34 weeks.

Now a member of the board of trustees with the Irish Sepsis Foundation, she created the documentary, titled Sepsis: A Story of Loss Love and Survival, to raise awareness about the condition, which affects people of all ages and backgrounds.

Though she has no experience in filmmaking, two friends of Kim’s eldest son, Ben Quinlan Murray and Luke Kelly, were studying film and were happy to help behind the camera while she wrote and produced.

The film shares the voices of survivors and families who have lost loved ones, showing both the devastation sepsis causes and the strength of those affected.

It also features interviews with medical experts and a scientist working with Novus Diagnostics, who are developing a test to detect sepsis within just 15 minutes.

The documentary is set to premiere at the Odeon Point Square on Thursday, October 23, and Kim is hoping to get it screened to wider audiences in the future.

“It’s a really emotional piece, it shows how sepsis changes life forever,” she said.

“But it also shows that people find strengths and connection and purpose afterwards.

“People also don’t realize it’s a domino effect; it’s not just the patient it affects the whole family,” she continued.

“So this is what we wanted people to see, because once you’ve seen what sepsis can do, it’s something that you’ll never forget.”