A woman has sadly died just weeks after falling ill with a sore throat.
Bethannie Booth, 24, shared her farewells to her loved ones and even planned her own funeral before she was placed in a coma.
On March 2, the elementary school teacher, from Wales, United Kingdom, began noticing red bumps on her face, "a little bit" of a sore throat, and a headache, her 27-year-old sister, Nia-ffion Davies told BBC News.
When she suddenly struggled to breathe on March 5, she was immediately taken to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and was put into resuscitation before being taken to the intensive care unit.
It then emerged that Bethannie’s lung had collapsed due to a Strep A infection.
The contagious bacteria has been affecting large swathes of the UK, leading to an increase in the number of scarlet fever cases.
The elementary school teacher then began battling sepsis, a life-threatening medical emergency in which the body has an extreme response to an infection. Infections that develop into sepsis often begin in the lungs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It was decided by doctors that Bethannie be placed in a coma in order to allow her organs time to recover. It was around this time that the 24-year-old sent some heartbreaking messages to her loved ones, telling them she thought she was going to die. Despite the serious nature of the messages, Bethannie made light of her situation.
Megan Booth, 25, Bethannie’s other sister, said: "It kills me that she felt that, she must have been scared, but she was still able to crack a joke."
Bethannie also started planning her own funeral and told her mom to ban black attire - all outfits had to be bold and colorful.
She was later transferred to Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London, where she spent two-and-a-half weeks on an ECMO machine, which assists a patient with their breathing using an artificial lung.
Bethannie’s condition began to improve and she was transferred back to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, where she soon developed sepsis again and passed away on March 31 surrounded by her family.
Speaking of her last moments, Bethannie’s dad Wayne Booth said: "All four of us went in to see her. We were holding her hand and she took her last breath."
Her family hope by sharing her story, they can raise awareness of which signs to look out for when it comes to sepsis.
Symptoms include finding it difficult to breathe, blotchy skin and a rash.
Mr Booth said: "If we can save one poor family going through what we’ve gone through, we’ve accomplished something. A sore throat is not always a sore throat."
Ms Davies added: "If you feel like things are wrong, if you suspect that anything’s wrong, don’t let anyone tell you that there’s nothing wrong."
