Sepsis is Deadly and Notoriously Difficult to Diagnose. This New Tool Deployed at Lourdes May Help

She didn't know it yet, but when Kathryn Duncan's husband was admitted into Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center on March 26, 1998, their family's life would change forever.

Shea Duncan, who was 38 years old at the time, had been in great health when suddenly, he wasn't feeling well. Their family doctor thought he had the flu and sent him home with antibiotics. Two weeks later, Duncan's condition worsened. At one point, every inch of his body was so painful to the touch, he couldn't even bear the feeling of the bedsheets on him.

Duncan, who worked in construction and owned his own trucking company, had contracted a staph infection - likely during his work on construction sites - that had developed into sepsis, an overreaction of the immune system to an infection or injury that damages the body's tissue and organs. This episode set off a series of surgeries from which he would never fully recover.