Fern Britton has revealed that she was seriously ill last year. The former This Morning presenter contracted sepsis following a hysterectomy, which led to pneumonia and a collapsed lung. Speaking about her illness, Fern told Prima magazine: "This time last year, I was fighting for my life. I'd gone into hospital on July 13 for a routine hysterectomy – which I had needed to deal with long-standing fibroids – four days before my birthday."
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© Photo: Getty ImagesFern opened up about her illness
She continued: "When the ambulance crew arrived, I was being sick and thought, 'Oh, I feel better now!' So when they offered to take me to hospital, I refused. That was quite a bad decision. By the next day, I was shivering and my muscles and joints were hurting. By now, the pain was so acute that I was having muscle contractions in my abdomen. In desperation, Phil rang the doctor's receptionist and she overrode everyone to send an ambulance. It's no exaggeration to say that I owe her my life."
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© Photo: Getty ImagesFern developed sepsis after a hysterectomy
Fern revealed that she thought that she was dying, and gave her daughter her wedding ring. "On the night of the procedure, I was resigned to dying," she said. "The theatre nurse offered to put a plaster over my wedding ring. Instead, I took off my ring and gave it to my daughter, who was with me. I hated the thought of them taking it from my dead body to give to her. So, I said, 'You look after it for me.'" Sepsis is a serious illness which is triggered by infection and leads to the body's immune system going into overdrive. According to the UK Sepsis Trust, the complication leads to around 40,000 deaths a year in the UK.
