MP Craig Mackinlay has shared the harrowing last video before both of his 'useless' hands and feet were amputated following horrific events. sepsis left them 'dead' and 'gnarled'.
The Tory The MP for South Thanet, 57, said he was 'lucky to be alive' after the horrific disease, which first struck him in September, left him with four prosthetic limbs.
He woke up from a 16-day coma in November with completely blackened limbs, due to the clots and lack of circulation caused by his illness.
Mr Mackinlay answered from his hospital bed at St Thomas' Hospital London on November 30, two months after he was admitted, showing off his blackened arms and feet the day before they were to be removed.
“The reality is I probably shouldn't have survived this far,” he said.
He said sepsis had caused “complete death of my hands and feet.”
“Of course, the reason I made the video today is because this is the last time these old things that have served me well for 57 years will be attached to me.
'They look a bit like peat soil. They are a bit gnarled, dry and dehydrated. It will be like saying goodbye to old friends.”
MP Craig Mackinlay has broken his silence after losing his hands and feet to sepsis, admitting he was 'lucky to be alive' after the horrific disease left him with four prosthetic limbs
'BIONIC MP': Tory Craig Mackinlay pictured at his home wearing his prosthetic limbs
The Tory MP for South Thanet, 57, will return to parliament after nearly dying from the life-threatening illness in September
Mr Mackinlay had to have significant parts of his arms and legs removed to save his life. But the rebel lawmaker has said he is now ready to return to parliament – and wants to be known as the 'bionic MP'.
And today he told GB News: 'The price I'm going to pay for my livelihood is a pretty serious handicap.'
He added that his arms and feet looked like they “turned completely black – they looked like the arms of the Pharaoh, sort of dug out of the desert.”
But he seemed optimistic, saying he would hopefully “maybe a little bit bigger” with his new bionic limbs.
The Kent MP started feeling unwell on September 27 but thought it was no worse than the onset of a cold and even took a Covid test, which came back negative.
But his pharmacist wife Kati became more concerned about her husband's health throughout the night after testing his blood pressure and temperature. And by morning she couldn't even feel a pulse on his stone-cold arms.
Speaking to GB News, Mrs Mackinlay said: 'The ambulance wouldn't take him to hospital at first. The only bad marker he had was his sugar level, which was very low, but once he had breakfast it came back up.
“They were thinking about whether to go to his GP or rush him to hospital.”
She said they “fortunately” opted to send for an ambulance, but when he arrived “things started to accelerate.”
Mr Mackinlay suffered from the DIC effect: a sepsis infection that got out of control.
He had suffered multiple organ failure and started turning blue after being rushed to hospital when sepsis manifested.
**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW**
Craig Mackinlay pictured at St Thomas' Hospital on November 30 with blackened limbs following sepsis
“It turned completely black – they looked like the arms of the Pharaoh, dug a little out of the desert.”
Craig Mackinlay spoke to GB News about his sepsis ordeal ahead of his return to Parliament
In December he said he was 'extremely lucky to be alive' after undergoing 'extreme surgery'
But today he described the harrowing episode in full, including waking up in St Thomas's Hospital to find his limbs had turned black.
Mr Mackinlay's situation quickly escalated. After feeling slightly unwell one evening in late September, he became seriously ill that night, and by morning his wife could no longer feel a pulse.
Shocking footage shows the MP looking at his affected limbs before they were removed.
“I could see black arms and my wife explained what had happened,” he told GB News.
“I think I was still enjoying the joys of fentanyl and all the rest of it at the time, so I was in and out of lucidity. But I could see that these things (hands) were probably lost.
'It became clear. My fingers were completely locked in a clenched fist. As for my toes, I could move a few toes on my left leg, but there was some sort of small sign of life in them.
“Maybe they could have saved part of the foot, but my surgeon said, 'It's better to leave them alone,' because you can have prosthetics and walk much better than with a partial foot.”
Craig Mackinlay and his wife Kati arrive at the Thanet South constituency counting center on May 8, 2015 before he was elected local MP
Craig MacKinlay outside 10 Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting on September 2, 2019
Doctors even considered the possibility of issuing a do-not-resuscitate order if his heart stopped.
But he took his first 20 steps unassisted after the operation on February 28, marking a major milestone in his recovery after a gloomy Christmas period. Fortunately, he said, his four-year-old daughter Olivia handled the situation well.
Sepsis occurs when the immune system overreacts to an infection.
In 2016, the Daily Mail launched the End the Sepsis Scandal campaign following the tragic case of William Mead, who died at 12 months old after a series of mistakes and misdiagnoses.
But despite the trauma, Mr Mackinlay has said he is 'ready to get back in the saddle' and serve his constituents – and inspire the next generation.
The outspoken MP was first elected in 2015 and has even said he will contest his seat at the next election.
He added: '[I want to] getting back to the things I really like. Get back to speaking out for the people of South Thanet and get ready for that election and try to get some decent manifesto points with the pressure I want to bear.
'I hope people give me the benefit of the doubt and say, 'That man has been a fighter for himself, he's going to bloody fight for me, I'm going to give him my support.'
'The bionic MP is what I want to be. When children come to Parliament and go to the gallery or go to the school section, which Parliament does very well, I want children to pull on their mother's coats and say: “I want to see the bionic MP today”. That's what I want to do.'
He has said that losing his hands is the hardest thing to deal with, and that the prosthetic replacements will “never be the same again.”
He told the BBC: 'You don't realize how much you do with your hands: use your phone, hold your child's hand, touch your wife, do the gardening.'
Paying tribute to Mr Mackinlay after the announcement, former immigration secretary Robert Jenrick posted on X: 'An exceptionally brave man.
'I look forward to welcoming you back to Westminster.'
Tory backbencher Mark Jenkinson said: “Craig's story is remarkable.
“His courage and strength, and that of his wife Kati and daughter Olivia, are incredible.”
Tory MP Marco Longhi said: 'Brilliant to see Craig back! I know it is frowned upon to clap in the audience, but I will make an effort not to do so. Hero.'
Dr. Neil Hudson, another Conservative MP, added: 'Craig is an inspiration and is courageously raising public awareness of the risks of sepsis.'