Craig Mackinlay says docs tried to influence spouse to conform to DNR

The ‘bionic MP’ who lost his limbs to sepsis has revealed how doctors at his local hospital tried to persuade his wife to agree to a do not resuscitate (DNR) order.

Craig Mackinlay was rushed into hospital last September and put into a 16-day induced coma, with his wife Kati told he had only a 5 per cent chance of survival.

Doctors at the 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.

But his wife Kati was helped by fellow Tory politician Adam Holloway to get a second opinion and a more optimistic prognosis from a team at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Father-of-one Mr Mackinlay was transferred to the hospital in London and several weeks later had the surgeries, surviving to tell his extraordinary story.

Now, he has given a vivid account to Andy Coulson’s Crisis What Crisis? podcast about the discussions held to consider what could be done to save him.

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?’

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Care Pathway, a system developed to support patients nearing death which can involve medication, food and fluids being withdrawn.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.’

‘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. ‘

Talking about what he we could remember during the induced coma, Mr Mackinlay also spoke about a series of ‘incredible’ dreams which were ‘probably enhanced by Fentanyl and Morphine I suppose’.

He said: ‘I was the King of Gibraltar, that was a good one. I was sent off on a mission with a couple of MP colleagues to sink the Iranian fleet that had been provided by France.’

On May 22, the then-South Thanet MP received an emotional standing ovation in the House of Commons from politicians on all sides as he returned to work.

Speaking about the moment, he said: ‘To get back in that chamber, and immediately that standing ovation that I had to sort of bring to a close by sitting down, was just incredible. Just incredible.’

He added that opposition politicians were ‘unbelievably kind, saying: ‘I got some emails from Labour MPs that I wouldn’t normally have passed the day with. One of them particularly who had me in tears. It was just so wonderful.’ 

Mr Mackinlay started his political career in the early 1990s, briefly leading the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) before leaving to join the Conservative Party in 2005.

After returning to Parliament in May, he decided he could not cope with the rigours of a General Election campaign so stood down.

Mr Mackinlay instead campaigned for his friend Mr Holloway who lost his seat in Gravesham, Kent, on July 4 to Labour.

He will now campaign to raise awareness of the onset of sepsis, which happened extremely fast in his case within a matter of hours.

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.

Click here to listen to the full episode of ‘Andy Coulson’s Crisis What Crisis?’ podcast