After watching a powerful episode of Australian Story called A Matter of Minutes, featuring sepsis survivor Mick O'Dowd, I felt compelled to reach out to Sepsis Australia. I wanted to understand more about sepsis and explore how I could help raise awareness. Like many people, I had heard of sepsis but had very little understanding of what it actually is, the impact it has, or the symptoms that can be lifesaving to recognise. To learn more, I connected with sepsis survivors across Australia and documented some of their stories. These works were exhibited at the Royal North Shore Hospital and at Artspace in Chatswood, with more community locations planned for the future.

 

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s response to infection damages its own tissues and organs. It can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death, and 50% of survivors experience long-term consequences - The World Health Organisation has declared sepsis a global health threat.

In Australia, it’s estimated that there are around 55,000 cases and at least 8,700 deaths each year — three times more than breast or prostate cancer and seven times more than road accidents. During COVID, 75% of critically ill patients died of viral sepsis. Tragically, someone dies from sepsis every 2.8 seconds globally, yet awareness remains extremely low. Sepsis is preventable if it’s recognised quickly — which is why awareness is absolutely critical - know the symptoms so it can can ruled in or out asap, ask #coulditbesepsis - https://www.australiansepsisnetwork.net.au/what-is-sepsis/.

 

A huge thank you to all the survivors and their families who took part in this exhibition and so generously shared their journeys and stories that accompany the photographs: Amanda, Fiona, Mandy, Mia & Amy, Damian & Bobby, Mick, Caitlyn, Matthew, Lyn, Korina and Natalie.