CBS News
A U.K. lawmaker had his feet and hands amputated after septic shock. Now he wants to be known as the “Bionic MP.”
A U.K. legislator who lost both his hands and feet after suffering septic shock is now headed back to work. And he hopes to bring a new title with him, as the country’s “Bionic MP.”
Craig Mackinlay, a conservative member of U.K. Parliament serving South Thanet, told CBS News partner BBC that he started feeling ill on September 27 last year. After a negative COVID test, he went to sleep. His wife Kati is a pharmacist and kept an eye on his condition as he slept, and by morning, she was incredibly concerned after his arms became cold and she couldn’t detect a pulse.
Within half an hour of being admitted to the hospital, Mackinlay said his entire body, from “top to bottom,” turned “a very strange blue.” He was diagnosed with septic shock and placed into a coma for just over two weeks.
Septic shock is the “most severe stage of sepsis” – an extreme infection reaction that causes your organs to fail and blood pressure to become “extremely low,” according to the Cleveland Clinic, The potentially fatal sepsis stage can lead to brain damage and gangrene as well as lung, heart and kidney failure.
BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP via Getty Images
Health care workers told Kati her husband was “one of the illest people they’d ever seen” and had just a 5% chance to survive, Mackinlay told the BBC. When he finally woke up, his arms and legs “had turned black” to the point where “you could almost knock them.” The sepsis also caused scarring on his face and gums, leaving him with some loose teeth.
“I haven’t got a medical degree but I know what dead things look like,” he told the BBC. “I was surprisingly stoic about it. … It must have been the various cocktail of drugs I was on.”
On December 1, his hands and feet were amputated. And it wasn’t long before he got prosthetics for his missing limbs – a solution that was welcomed, but difficult to adjust to.
“There was no muscle on them at all, it was quite horrible,” he said. “You picked up your leg and you can see a bone and a bit of sort of hanging.”
BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP via Getty Images
After spending weeks building up the necessary muscles and getting used to his new way of moving around, Mackinlay finally took his first 20 steps by himself on February 28.
“After a really quite quick time you think, ‘I can do this,'” he said. “…Walking was my sign of success.”
Getting used to his new hands, however, was a bit more difficult. Even with prosthetics, he said, “the hands are a real loss.”
“You don’t realize how much you do with your hands… use your phone, hold the hand of your child, touch your wife, do the garden.”
But Mackinlay isn’t interested in “moaning and complaining or getting down about the things you can’t do.” Instead, he wants to become known as the “bionic MP” and work on a campaign to educate others about sepsis.
“When children come to Parliament’s fantastic education center, I want them to be pulling their parents’ jacket or skirts or their teacher and saying: ‘I want to see the bionic MP today,'” he said. “…You’ve got to be cheerful and positive about things you can do and I find every day there’s something new that I can do.”
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
$100 million in federal funds released for North Carolina to rebuild roads, bridges damaged by Helene
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation released $100 million in emergency funds on Saturday for North Carolina to rebuild its roads and bridges damaged by Helene.
“We are providing this initial round of funding so there’s no delay getting roads repaired and reopened, and re-establishing critical routes,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement. “The Biden-Harris administration will be with North Carolina every step of the way, and today’s emergency funding to help get transportation networks back up and running safely will be followed by additional federal resources.”
The storm caused rampant flooding that has devastated several towns and killed more than 225 people – with CBS News confirming at least 114 people killed in North Carolina. There was more than 8 inches of rain across the western North Carolina mountains, with some areas seeing more than a foot.
Hundreds of roads across Western North Carolina remain closed, leading to an increase in air traffic as teams scour the region for survivors by air. Air traffic over Western North Carolina has increased by 300% due to relief efforts since the storm cleared, the Federal Aviation Administration and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
Mudslides blocked Interstate 40 and other highways in North Carolina and about 400 roads were closed due to damage from Helene. Interstate 40 was damaged at several locations, the Department of Transportation said.
President Biden visited the Carolinas on Wednesday, surveying the flood damage by air from Greenville, South Carolina, to Asheville, North Carolina. Mr. Biden announced the federal government would cover “100%” of all debris removal and emergency protective measure costs in North Carolina for six months.
The Department of Transportation said these relief funds will allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation to act more quickly to fund eligible repairs to their damaged facilities.
Li Cohen and
contributed to this report.
CBS News
Tropical Storm Milton forms in Gulf; forecast to strengthen into hurricane headed toward Florida
Tropical Storm Milton has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane headed toward Florida with possible impacts to its western coast, the National Hurricane Center said on Saturday. Maximum sustained winds are expected to be at 40 mph with higher gusts and Milton is currently moving north-northeast, NHC said in an advisory.
Milton is forecast to undergo a period of rapid intensification before it makes landfall as a Category 2 hurricane across Florida’s west coast, CBS News Miami reported.
The forecast comes a little more than a week after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and across the Southeast, killing more than 200 people and causing immense destruction. President Biden on Thursday took an aerial tour of Florida’s Big Bend where Helene struck as a Category 4 storm. Hundreds of people are still missing and Mr. Biden said the work to rebuild will cost “billions of dollars” as communities suffer still without power, running water and passable roads.
NOAA
Milton is forecast to move across the southwestern Gulf of Mexico through Sunday night then across the south-central Gulf on Monday and Tuesday before reaching Florida’s west coast by the middle of the week, NHC said. Heavy rain is possible in the region starting Sunday into Monday, CBS Miami reported, and more rain and heavy winds will most likely arrive on Wednesday. Hurricane and storm surge watches will most likely be required for portions of Florida starting Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Along with the heavy rainfall, the hurricane center said to expect risks of flooding.
Residents in the area should ensure they have a hurricane plan in place, the National Hurricane Center said, follow the advice of local officials and check back for forecast updates.
