NEED TO KNOW
Geraint Mullins was 16 years old when he popped a normal pimple and wound up hospitalized with sepsis
Now 24, Mullins is raising awareness about the dangers of sepsis, a deadly infection that kills many and often goes undiagnosed until it’s too late
According to the World Health Organization in 2020, sepsis is responsible for one in five deaths worldwide
A man who nearly died after popping a pimple is raising awareness about the deadly illness he suffered.
Geraint Mullins was 16 when he popped a pimple on his neck. Just days later, he celebrated his 17th birthday in the hospital and underwent multiple surgeries after developing sepsis, according to the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
Described as a “medical emergency” by the Cleveland Clinic, sepsis occurs when your immune system has a “dangerous reaction to an infection.”
According to the World Health Organization, sepsis is the cause of one in five deaths worldwide.
For Mullins, his experience with sepsis started after he did something many others do on a regular basis — popped a pimple.
Geraint Mullins
Geraint Mullins
“I enjoy popping [pimples] – and when I popped it, it was just a normal [pimple],” Mullins, now 24, told the BBC.
The outlet reported that Mullins was left with a golfball-sized abscess on his neck, which he said developed “within a few days.”
After he started feeling “very lethargic” and “quite out of it,” Mullins went to his doctor, who sent him to the hospital to undergo surgery. The surgical procedure helped drain the abscess. However, the infection was still raging a week later, which led to a secondary surgery.
Years later, he still has a scar on his neck. However, the outcome could have been much worse.
“I was very close to potentially not being here,” he told the outlet. “If I wasn’t as fit, I could have been dead.”
At the time, Mullins said that he “knew absolutely nothing” about the possibility of the deadly illness. Now, he’s committed to raising awareness about what sepsis looks like and how to treat it.
He said that some of the warning signs of sepsis include “slurred speech,” “extreme shivering,” “severe breathlessness,” and “mottled” skin.
Per the WHO, “only half of the people who are diagnosed with sepsis “will completely recover. Others face death or the risk of “long-term disabilities.”
“The world must urgently step up efforts to improve data about sepsis so all countries can detect and treat this terrible condition in time,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said in a 2020 statement.
BBC Wales News/Instagram
Geraint Mullins
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California-based dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee, otherwise known as Dr. Pimple Popper, spoke to PEOPLE about the “right way to pop a pimple,” though she advised against doing so.
“Be sterile, be as clean as possible. Make sure you have rubbing alcohol, clean the areas, make sure you have clean fingers or gloves are ideal, and try to use as sterile instruments as possible,” she said.
She continued, saying, “Ideally, you want to squeeze out all that pus that’s in there because if you don’t, it can re-form or get bigger. So you really want to squeeze it just enough so you get a little tinge of blood.”
Most importantly, “Know when to pop and when to stop.”
Read the original article on People
