Support group reunites two former colleagues

Colin Sutton and Dave Lea are both former train drivers, and devoted grandads.

But that’s not all the pair have in common – they also both survived sepsis, and needed treatment in East Kent Hospitals’ critical care units.

The former colleagues were reunited last month at a group for people who have been in critical care, set up to help patients support each other and to provide reassurance they are not the only one dealing with issues such as nightmares or memory loss. It is run by specialist nurses Zoe Mannering and Lucy Mummery, and specialist physiotherapist Sarah Gotke.

Dave, 78, who lives in Ashford, was one of the very first members of the group after he was hospitalised in 2018 with sepsis and meningitis.

He said: “I went to bed at night, and didn’t wake up the next morning.

“But I always say I’m very lucky that happened, because while I was in hospital the doctors found I had kidney cancer – there had been no signs or symptoms and I had no idea it was there.

“If it wasn’t for the doctors and nurses who looked after me at the William Harvey Hospital and Kent and Canterbury Hospital I wouldn’t be here. Through the group I talk to other people and hear what they have been through, and I think I am lucky; no question about it.

“I’m still walking, I still have all my limbs, I’m in remission, and now I’ve been reunited with my old colleague too!”

Dave worked as a train driver for 46 years, and was one of the youngest when he became a driver aged just 21, while Colin, 71, spent 38 years on the railways, working out of Ramsgate, where he also lives.

Colin said: “As soon as I walked into the group and saw Dave there, I couldn’t believe it.

“It was such a coincidence that we had both had sepsis and we didn’t know – after retirement you don’t keep up with everyone so we had lost touch.

“The group is absolutely brilliant, and something I will always value. It’s fantastic the NHS offers it for people like us.”

Colin spent 10 days in critical care at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate after collapsing at home. A blocked gallbladder had affected his pancreas and led to sepsis.

Colin said: “You do need support when you come out of something like that, and Lucy, Zoe and Sarah are shining lights in your life.

“You can pick up the phone and ask them questions, and nothing is too much trouble.

“I was in and out of consciousness and there is a lot I don’t remember but the care I had from the team was unbelievable, they were absolutely marvellous.”

The support group runs weekly online, with Sarah leading exercises and Lucy and Zoe answering queries about patients’ recovery or experiences. There are also often visiting speakers and the chance for people to share their own stories.

Thanks to funding from East Kent Hospitals Charity, there are also two face-to-face meet-ups each year, and it was at one of those that Dave and Colin were reunited last month.

Dave said: “It is lovely to meet up, and to be able to help others with our experiences. I had some terrible dreams and hallucinations; I thought I was in a research centre and being held against my will.

“I had nightmares about a clock but Lucy took me back to the unit to look around, and I recognised it as the clock on the wall there. I never had that dream again after that.

“I have got a lot to thank Lucy, Zoe and Sarah for – they have all been marvellous and are still supporting us all, even after all these years.”