The ‘bionic MP,’ who lost his limbs to sepsis, has posted a video of himself exercising in a gym one year after he was hospitalised with the life-threatening condition.
Craig Mackinley was rushed to hospital last September, and put into a 16-day induced coma, with his wife Katie told he had only a five per cent chance of survival.
Doctors at the ex-Conservative MP’s local hospital in Kent are said to have thought the quadruple amputation he required would leave him with a life not worth living.
However the 57-year-old father-of-one, who underwent the life-changing operation, returned to the House of Commons in May only months after the operation in December.
And to mark the life-changing moment, the ‘bionic MP’ posted a video of himself fighting fit at the gym a year later, whilst praising the ‘heroic work’ of the NHS.
Craig Mackinley, who lost his limbs to sepsis, has posted a video of himself exercising in a gym one year after he was hospitalised with a life-threatening condition
The ‘bionic’ MP was rushed to hospital last year after contracting sepsis and was put into a 16-day induced coma with five per cent chance of survival
Posting the clip of himself working out on the leg press, the MP took to X (formerly Twitter) to say: ‘Exactly a year ago, I had gone into septic shock and was put into an induced coma.
‘Things were looking truly bleak for my survival. Heroic work by the NHS saved me, took off a few bits & patched me up. A year on I’m doing OK.
‘I’ve learnt a lot about the NHS, sepsis & provision of prosthetics. A mixed bag, not all as good as it can be. I’ll be addressing these issues.’
In the optimistic video, Mr Mackinley revealed he ‘didn’t think a year later he would ever be sitting inside of a gym.’
He added: ‘This is something new for me, and I am thoroughly enjoying it.’
Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and starts to damage the body’s tissues and organs.
This comes shortly after, the brave politician gave a vivid account of the life-altering moment to Andy Coulson’s Crisis What Crisis? podcast.
Mr Mackinlay said: ‘There were conversations being had about the extent of my likely necrosis of limbs and how far up the amputation was likely to be.
‘The local hospital’s view was it was probably likely to be up to the crutch and up to the armpits. So literally there would be a torso left.
‘And you know, I understand a bit of a nudge, nudge, wink, wink – is it worthwhile? Is it a bit of a Liverpool Pathway, will he want to live like that?’
Craig Mackinlay is pictured at St Thomas’ Hospital in London after his life-saving operation
Craig Mackinlay during an interview with the PA news agency at Parliament on May 22
He was referring to the Liverpool Care Pathway, a system developed to support patients nearing death which can involve medication, food and fluids being withdrawn.
Speaking about his wife, Mr Mackinlay continued: ‘Kati could have possibly said, ‘Yes, maybe you’re right and this is all just rather hopeless’.
‘But she didn’t give in to that. She refused for me to have a ‘do not resuscitate’ attached to me, which is what they were trying to encourage, and she kept fighting for me.’
‘And a friend of mine, Adam Holloway MP, who unfortunately lost his seat, was there supporting the family massively and trying to use whatever means at his disposal, he talked to people in London (at St Thomas’ Hospital) about what could be done.’
Mr Mackinlay also explained that his symptoms began when he went to bed early feeling ‘a little bit unwell’ but was then violently sick a few times during the night.
He said Kati told him: ‘God, you just look pale. You look very pale. I can’t feel a pulse, your hands and arms are very cold.’
She called 999 and paramedics told him that he was ‘really not ill enough to be taken in’, but Kati ‘sort of remonstrated with them’ and told them: ‘I’ve never seen him this bad, please do take him in.’
Within half an hour of being there he said he ‘went this very strange blue’ which was the start of septic shock that later resulted in the amputations.
Mr Mackinlay also said that Kati, who is a pharmacist, had saved his life ‘without a doubt’.
He continued: ‘Well, even on the day I was doing probably that man thing saying, ‘Oh don’t worry, don’t call the ambulance. I’m alright, I’ll be alright. You know, I’ll be alright.’
Craig Mackinlay on Andy Coulson’s Crisis What Crisis? podcast where he gives a vivid account of his experience losing his limbs to sepsis
Craig Mackinlay talks about his experiences on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on July 29
‘I didn’t want to cause too much of a fuss and certainly didn’t want to go anywhere near a hospital. That’s usually the make trait, I think.
‘But no, without Kati insisting that there’s something seriously wrong here, and I think she had already come to this potentially could be sepsis, yes, I wouldn’t be here.
‘And I’m very lucky to have got to the hospital within the Goldilocks zone. Because if it had been much earlier they’d have said, ‘You’re not ill enough, go home,’ and if it had been an hour or two later it would have been too late. ‘
The former South Thanet MP said he could be referred to as the ‘bionic Lord’ after he was given a seat in the House of Lords in Rishi Sunak’s dissolution honours list.
Craig Mackinley stood down as a Tory MP at the last general election.
