Reduce the risk of silent killer
Wearing full-length gloves at lambing can reduce the risk of contracting the deadly disease sepsis, which tragically claimed the life of one of our colleagues.
Hannah Brown was only 26 when she died from sepsis in March 2021, just two days after developing flu-like symptoms.
Hannah worked at our Leyburn store and was well-known in the farming community and on the livestock show circuit. She left behind her fiancé Ben Richardson, seven-month-old daughter Millie and parents Martin and Val Brown.
She began feeling ill with what she initially thought was a cold. However, it wasn’t until she spoke to a friend in a local shop who suggested she might have sepsis that she attended hospital. Sadly, by then, it was too late to save her and she died in hospital.
Speaking on a video produced by NFU Mutual and the UK Sepsis Trust, Ben said: “It was all so quick and sudden. Everything turned upside down overnight and everybody’s lives have had to change to adapt to it.” Her mum, Val, added: “You don’t think it’s going to happen to you. If you can catch it soon enough, you can put a stop to it happening.”
Following Hannah’s death, her family have worked with the UK Sepsis Trust and NFU Mutual to raise awareness of sepsis and the increased risk in farming. And this year, for every box of full-length gloves bought through our stores, a donation is being made to the UK Sepsis Trust to raise awareness.
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is a hidden killer where every second counts. For each hour treatment is delayed, the chance of surviving is reduced by one or two percent.
Sepsis arises when the body’s response to an infection begins to attack tissues and organs. If it isn’t treated immediately with antibiotics, it can result in organ failure and death.
Sepsis kills five people every hour in the UK and at least 48,000 a year, with farmers at increased risk due to the nature of their job and making them more susceptible to cuts and grazes.
According to Dr Ron Daniels, an intensive care doctor and Founder and Chief Executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, minor skin injuries and skin infections cause about 10% of all sepsis cases, but among farmers that’s significantly higher.
But it’s not just about cuts and grazes. Falls, crush injuries and needle stick injuries also significantly increase the chances of farmers contracting the infection.
He said: “Recent experience suggests that the farming community is more susceptible to sepsis due to the nature of their work; their resilience and can-do attitude; their often rural, isolated setting and a reluctance to have time off and seek medical attention when not feeling well.
The fact is that farmers and labourers are at increased risk of becoming infected, so any cuts should be cleaned thoroughly, disinfected and covered before returning to work.”
Raising awareness and promoting best practice
To encourage best practice and in memory of Hannah we are donating to the UK Sepsis Trust, a charity set up to help raise awareness of the risks and symptoms of sepsis.
Our Senior Product Manager, Trevor Frost, said no farmer should be taking the risk of not wearing gloves at lambing time, adding:
“Ask yourself, is not wearing gloves really worth the risk? So many people don’t wear gloves and they ought to be. Very few farmers will calve a cow without wearing a full-length glove, yet the opposite is true when lambing a sheep. Hannah’s tragic loss demonstrated that sepsis can happen to anyone and the importance of protecting yourself.
Twenty pounds can go a long way to getting all the gloves you need for a season and in return, a proportion of that money will be going directly to the UK Sepsis Trust to help fund the vital work raising awareness of this deadly killer.
This campaign isn’t about raising money for our business, but simply about raising awareness of sepsis, its risks and promoting best practice. We will also be highlighting the dangers of sepsis through our stores.
“If we can help save just one life, then that’s a start,” added Mr Frost.
For more information about sepsis in farming or the work of the UK Sepsis Trust, visit sepsistrust.org
