Lady Colin Campbell was just "hours from death" last week.
The 67-year-old socialite was rushed to hospital when her organs started to shut down after she contracted sepsis – a potentially life-threatening condition triggered by an infection or injury – from, what she believes was, an infected scallop.
Speaking on ‘Loose Women’ on Monday (17.10.16), she said: "I was very disoriented and confused and thought it was the wrong day. On top of that, my bladder had completely shut down. I phoned my brother-in-law in America, who is a doctor he told me I had to go to hospital immediately – I had the classic symptoms of sepsis.
"I realised that something traumatic and terrible was going on because your body is literally shutting down. If you’re stressed your body immune system is also at risk and I’m under a lot of stress. The funny thing is that I was already more aware of sepsis than most people because my close friend had just died from it.
"My doctors are still not sure but they believe I had an infected scallop and got food poisoning, and then got into my organs and everything started to shut down."
Although she was battling to fight the condition, which is also known as blood poisoning, Lady C was more worried about her sons Dima and Misha.
She explained: "’My sons knew how ill I was, they took me to hospital. My major concern was that I would leave my affairs in such a mess that they would be penniless."
The former ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ star has now made a recovery but has spent the past week trying to sleep as much as possible to heal her body.
She said: "I’ve spent the last week sleeping around the clock so I now have energy."
Sepsis can reduce the blood supply to vital organs such as the brain, heart and kidneys and, without quick treatment, can lead to multiple organ failure and death.
The condition can be treated at home with antibiotics if it’s caught early enough but it usually requires hospital admission.
Lady Colin Campbell was ‘hours from death’ last weekend
