Woman, 23, Thought She Had the Flu — Until Her Tongue Turned Black from Impacted Wisdom Tooth: ‘Nearly Killed Me'

Caitlin Alsop is hoping to raise awareness about the risks of sepsis, which she developed from an infected tooth

• Caitlin Alsop, 23, thought she had the flu — but it was the start of a life-threatening sepsis infection caused by an impacted wisdom tooth

• She says she was in a coma for 9 days and was left with open wounds for a year after struggling with the infection

• She said she was “literally burning from the inside” from sepsis — and has since started an organization, FACE Sepsis, to raise awareness of its severity

An Australian woman thought she had the flu — but it turned out to be a life-threatening sepsis infection caused by an impacted wisdom tooth.

Caitlin Alsop, 23, was struggling with a sporadic facial rash, but told news.com.au, “I went to a couple of doctors, but I didn’t really think there was anything going on and then I ended up with some flu-like symptoms.”

Flu was the diagnosis, she says, and per her doctor’s advice, she took it easy until she felt better.

It wasn’t until she went out to dinner with a friend that Alsop says things took a sudden, severe turn for the worse.

Over dinner, she said she felt like she’d bitten her tongue; Later, she told the outlet that her tongue swelled and she began to drool. Thinking it was an allergic reaction, she told news.com.au that she tried to take an antihistamine — but couldn’t swallow it due to the swelling.

Alsop says she went to the hospital, where doctors also thought she was having the allergic reaction anaphylaxis — but the normal course of treatment for the life-threatening condition didn’t help.

That’s when Alsop says she developed a blue and red rash and began to lose consciousness.

She told the outlet that her tongue turned black — doctors considered that she had necrotizing fasciitis (a bacterial infection known as the “flesh-eating disease,” the Cleveland Clinic explains) or Ludwig’s angina (which the Cleveland Clinic says is cellulitis of the tongue and neck).

But it wasn’t until she had a CT scan that the true cause of her illness was discovered: an impacted, infected wisdom tooth.

Related: Teen's Wisdom Tooth Removal Reveals Autoimmune Disease. Months Later, He Needs a Lung Transplant (Exclusive)

“I had no pain, no symptoms and this nearly killed me overnight. It’s absolutely crazy,” she told news.com.au.

She needed emergency surgery to remove the tooth, and told the outlet that she was in a coma for nine days, after her jugular vein — located on the side of the neck — had started to be crushed from the pressure of the infection.

“I didn’t know that an infection could be so serious. Like so many young people, I had no idea an infection could lead to this. I was walking around and then I was literally burning from the inside out in the ICU as a medical mystery,” she told the publication.

Alsop was left with open wounds that took a year to heal, telling news.com.au that she learned her infection had actually been sepsis.

As the Mayo Clinic explains, sepsis occurs when the body “responds improperly” to an infection — in Alsop’s case, an infected wisdom tooth.

“The infection-fighting processes turn on the body, causing the organs to work poorly,” the Mayo Clinic says, adding that “when the damage is severe, it can lead to death.”

Related: Texas Teacher Loses Arms and Legs After Sepsis 'Mummified' Her Limbs

“It is really scary — and what’s the most scary is the amount of people who message me telling me that they’re concerned that their loved one is going through something similar, and they see my story and they want to make sure that it doesn’t happen to them,” Alsop told the publication.

Her experience prompted her to start the FACE Sepsis project, which she hopes will raise awareness about the risks of the illness.

“We all have to work together to make sure that we do prevent loss of life from sepsis,” she said. “I’m so determined to make sure that I leave this world a better place.”

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