Strictly star Amy Dowden has revealed her parents were told she had developed sepsis and had hours to live as she underwent cancer treatment.
In May 2023, the Welsh dancer revealed she had the infection after she underwent chemotherapy for stage 3 breast cancer.
However, while appearing on Andy Coulson’s Crisis What Crisis? podcast, Amy detailed developing sepsis and the traumatic experience.
Amy Dowden was ‘scared’ to go to A&E
The 33-year-old dancer’s battle with sepsis took place shortly after her first round of chemotherapy. While at home on a Saturday afternoon, Amy collapsed and was sent to A&E.
At that time, Amy admitted that the diagnosis and treatment for her cancer were already taking a toll on her mental health. “There was a lot to get my head around,” she said.
Amy recalled feeling “scared” to go to A&E because she’d been injected with bone marrow that same morning. She had “no white blood cells”, and therefore she was at high risk of picking up an infection. However, she was “encouraged” by paramedics to get in the ambulance.
The Strictly star was told she had an infection but the doctors assured her family that she was okay and that they could go home.
Amy’s parents ‘broke to the floor’
The following morning, Ben, Amy’s husband, rang the hospital to see how she was doing. Upon being told that the doctor wanted to speak to him, he put the call on loudspeaker for Amy’s parents to hear.
After being told Amy had sepsis, her parents “broke to the floor”. The news hit hard because Amy’s aunt had died of the infection a year prior. The doctor shared even more bad news, stating she had a blood clot on her lung.
I don’t think they’ve been the same since.
Amy was in such a bad state that her mother was warned that she would not be able to function for more than 16 hours before her organs would begin to fail.
She revealed her “parents went into meltdown mode”. However, Ben “went into protection mode of them”. When they arrived at the hospital, Amy wasn’t in the room.
‘”I was having an emergency CT scan,” she explained. “My mum had to walk away.”
Amy became responsive after being treated with new antibiotics. When she started to wake up, she recalled her family being around her.
“I saw the pain in my parents’ eyes, and I don’t think they’ve been the same since,” she said.
“It was so tough for them to have watched that, especially after what we’d been through with my auntie. And yes, I don’t think they’ve been same or never will be the same again.”
Fortunately for Amy, her latest scan results have revealed no sign of cancer in her body.
Read more: Strictly star Amy Dowden stuns fans with new blonde hair transformation: ‘Really suits you’
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