A brave nurse who lost both her legs and an arm to sepsis was found hanged by her husband, an inquest heard today.
Jayne Carpenter, 53, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, was left with just one limb when she developed sepsis four years ago while suffering with a simple cough.
Courageous Ms Carpenter vowed to battle on by fundraising to get pioneering limb surgery not available on the NHS.
She had raised over £20,000 of her £265,000 target – but said she was ‘not having quality of life but enduring it.’
Ms Carpenter lost her left arm below the elbow, both of her legs and four fingers on her right hand in total.
Nurse Jayne Carpenter, 53, who lost both her legs and an arm to sepsis was found hanged by her husband, an inquest heard today
Mrs Carpenter, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, was left with just one limb when she developed sepsis four years ago while suffering with a simple cough
An inquest heard her heartbroken husband Rob, 56, got a call from Ms Carpenter on December 7 and she asked him to pick up their dog.
He arrived at the house at 4.30pm to find a jumper obscuring a window pane at the front door.
The inquest heard Mr Carpenter went inside to find his wife hanging.
A cause of death is currently pending further investigations.
After her death, Mr Carpenter paid tribute online and said: ‘The brightest star in my sky has burnt out.’
After her death, Mr Carpenter paid tribute online and said: ‘The brightest star in my sky has burnt out’
An inquest heard her heartbroken husband Rob, 56, got a call from Ms Carpenter on December 7 and she asked him to pick up their dog
Dedicated Jayne was desperate to lead an active life and said her independence had been ‘stripped from me overnight.’
Tributes have flooded the nurse’s social media account since news of her death emerged, with friends and family describing her as ‘a kind and beautiful lady.’
Others remembered Ms Carpenter as someone who ‘shone bright and inspired so many people’.
She had been admitted to intensive care in May 2016 when her cough developed into deadly sepsis – which kills around 48,000 people in the UK every year.
He arrived at the house at 4.30pm to find a jumper obscuring a window pane at the front door. The inquest heard Mr Carpenter went inside to find his wife hanging
Jayne spent nine weeks in a coma and her husband was told she would need multiple amputations to survive.
She said on her GoFundMe page: ‘The surgery will enable me to live the life of an able-bodied person.
‘All the things I loved doing and my independence were stripped from me overnight.’
Ms Carpenter added the NHS had advised her to ‘compromise’ and carry on with her metal prosthetic legs.
‘The NHS prosthetic provision is not sufficient to allow me to live the active life I want to lead,’ she said. ‘This to me is not having quality of life but enduring it.’
On her page, the Nurse Practitioner explained she had attended a GP Out of Hours surgery expecting to be prescribed antibiotics for a chest infection on May 1, 2016.
However, she soon discovered she was developing sepsis – a life-threatening reaction to an infection which occurs when your immune system overreacts and begins to damage your body’s own tissues.
She later suffered from septic shock and multiple organ failure, before being placed in a medically induced coma and a ventilator for three months.
‘I required multiple limb amputations as a life saving procedure,’ Ms Carpenter explained.
‘I had gone from being a healthy, fit person to being critically ill in a flash and as a result of sepsis I ended up being a quadruple amputee.
‘My life after sepsis has left me with lifetime, life changing disabilities.’
After recovering, the nurse gave educational talks on the dangers of sepsis – which kills more than 30,000 people in the UK each year.
Ms Carpenter also participated in fun runs after recovering and raised thousands for sepsis charities.
Dedicated Jayne was desperate to lead an active life and said her independence had been ‘stripped from me overnight’. Ms Carpenter also participated in fun runs after recovering and raised thousands for sepsis charities
Ms Carpenter also participated in fun runs after recovering and raised thousands for sepsis charities
She previously revealed that after her multiple amputations she didn’t feel good enough for her husband and told him he could ‘walk away.’
But he replied: ‘I married you not for your arms or legs but because I love you’.
The couple hoped she would be able to have osseointegration surgery – where artificial limbs are attached to a patient’s bone.
She previously revealed that after her multiple amputations she didn’t feel good enough for her husband and told him he could ‘walk away’
The couple hoped she would be able to have osseointegration surgery – where artificial limbs are attached to a patient’s bone. Pictured: Ms Carpenter before she fell victim to sepsis
Assistant coroner Rachel Knight adjourned the inquest into Ms Carpenter’s death until February 2022. Pictured: The woman before she contracted sepsis
But there were fears she may not have enough bone left for the operation to be successful.
Friends and family have now paid tribute to the ‘kind and beautiful lady.’
Assistant coroner Rachel Knight adjourned the inquest in Pontypridd until February 2022.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details