"Acting quickly saved my life"
In July 2021, Simonetta Angelucci developed sepsis. All her organs failed, and she was in an induced coma for ten days. When she woke up, she felt above all grateful: she was alive, her liver was still intact—and she could think.
Simonetta Angelucci has no memory of the trip to the hospital. Her last memory is of the doctor’s office. She was sitting there in a terrible state, shaking violently, with a fever of 41 degrees, and so weak that she could barely stand. She had never felt so sick in her life.
The next time she became aware of what was happening around her, she was lying in an intensive care unit. Ten days had passed. “My first thought was: Wow, I’ve actually woken up from the coma.” Then came the second thought: her liver was still there. As her family later told her, she had told them before falling into a coma that she would consent to a liver transplant if one were necessary. She herself has no memory of this. And finally, she realized with relief, “I can think.”
A sudden emergency
Simonetta Angelucci’s memory goes blank at the doctor’s office. It all began months earlier with health problems. Within three months, Simonetta Angelucci had three bouts of intestinal inflammation. As a result, she received an IV at a doctor’s office in July 2021. “When the IV was removed and I stood up, I already didn’t feel well,” says the 65-year-old. Her legs were weak, and she was shaking violently. Half an hour later, the doctor took her temperature and found she had a fever of 41 degrees. He immediately realized it was an emergency and called an ambulance. “His quick action saved my life.”
At the regional hospital, it turned out that Simonetta Angelucci had sepsis. The IV solution had been contaminated with bacteria and had triggered a severe infection. The next morning, her condition deteriorated dramatically, and all her organs failed. She was transferred by helicopter to the University Hospital of Zurich, where she was connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine. This machine temporarily takes over part of the work of the lungs and, depending on the procedure, also part of the work of the heart. This relieves the strain on the heart and lungs, giving them time to recover.
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency that occurs when the body’s own immune response to an infection damages its own tissue and organs. Without early detection and treatment, it can progress rapidly, lead to organ failure and septic shock and be fatal. Sepsis is one of the most common causes of preventable mortality and morbidity worldwide.
Back on Your Own Two Feet
Simonetta Angelucci was placed in an induced coma. In an induced coma, a person is put into a deep sleep using medication. This allows vital treatments to be administered, such as mechanical ventilation.
When she woke up from the coma, she was hooked up to tubes. She could neither speak nor move. “I wasn’t afraid. I just felt grateful that I had woken up again.” She drew strength from the many photos of her family that the nursing staff had pinned to the partition walls around her bed. They reminded her of the people for whom she wanted to get well again.
Simonetta Angelucci spent a total of three weeks in the hospital. The hardest part for her was being completely dependent on others. Her muscles were so weak that she couldn’t do anything on her own. About a week after coming out of the coma, she took her first steps in the hospital with the help of a walker. And she needed dialysis: When the kidneys can no longer filter the blood adequately, a dialysis machine takes over part of that task.
She arrived at the rehab clinic in a wheelchair. There, she continued working on regaining control of her body: standing up, walking, building strength. “I took immense joy in every single step.” Five weeks later, she was able to leave the clinic. A friend picked her up. She no longer needed the wheelchair she’d arrived in. “I left rehab dancing,” she says. “I was so happy that I could walk out of there on my own two feet.”
Invisible Consequences
She had survived the sepsis. But the aftereffects remained: Although her kidneys had recovered enough that Simonetta Angelucci no longer needed dialysis or related medications, her kidney function remained impaired. In addition, some of her brain functions no longer worked as well as they had before. “I get tired more quickly, can’t concentrate for as long, and don’t have the same energy I had before the sepsis.”
Many of these effects are not visible to others. Simonetta Angelucci has experienced firsthand how little is known about the fact that sepsis can have physical and psychological consequences long after the acute illness has passed. “You can’t tell by looking at me what I’m still struggling with today.”
After her hospital stay and rehab, Simonetta Angelucci was left with many unanswered questions: What was she allowed to eat? What did she need to watch out for because of her kidneys? What long-term consequences could the sepsis have? How should she cope with her reduced stamina? So she took matters into her own hands: she sought out nutritional counseling, physical therapy, and other services to support her recovery. A year after her sepsis, she got a dog. “He forces me to get out of the house and keep moving,” she says with a smile.
Returning to work also took time. She was on full sick leave for eight months. After that, she began working 40 percent of a full-time schedule, later increasing it to 60 percent. Her attempt to increase her hours to 80 percent didn’t work out. She had to cut back again.
Deep Gratitude
Today, Simonetta Angelucci looks back on her journey with great gratitude, even though she has been left with some lasting effects. “I had extremely bad luck, but also extremely good luck,” she says. Unlucky because she received a contaminated IV. Lucky because, despite the severity of the illness, she didn’t lose any limbs, for example. “When I compare myself to others who’ve been affected, I realize how well I’ve come out of it.”
On her long road to recovery, Simonetta Angelucci drew strength from her positive mindset, her fighting spirit, and her spirituality. Just as important was her family, who were there for her during her toughest days. A mindset she developed through her athletic past also helped her in her recovery: “The match isn’t lost until it’s over.”
For Simonetta Angelucci, this ordeal was a long one. From a fever of 41 degrees Fahrenheit and multiple organ failure, her journey took her through ten days in a coma and her first steps with a walker back to walking on her own two feet. She left rehab dancing. A special moment—yet she still lives with the aftereffects of sepsis to this day.