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Hospital bug victim is paying out £300,000 to clean up health service
Mark Thomas and Sophie Goodchild12 Mar 2008
A businessman who nearly died from a hospital superbug has spent more than £300,000 on a personal crusade to clean up the NHS.
Ashley Brooks, 44, contracted blood poisoning as he was being treated for leukaemia.
His wife was pregnant at the time and at one point he was so ill that Mr Brooks feared he would not live long enough to see the birth of his son Monty, now six.
When he recovered, the printer and IT entrepreneur resolved to do everything possible to eradicate hospital bugs such as MRSA, which kills about 1,700 people a year.
The result is an advertising campaign, which has been distributed to scores of hospitals. It features a cartoon character named Max who encourages patients, visitors and staff to wash their hands.
Mr Brooks, from Loughton, Essex, was initially treated by Bart's and the London NHS Trust in Smithfields.
In February 2002, he was moved to Southend hospital, where he believes he caught a bug after a nurse touched his chemotherapy drip without washing her hands.
He said: "I could see the nurse touching several patients around their bandages before reaching me but I said nothing. I felt so ill, was bald and bloated from the chemotherapy and not able to look people in the eye at that time.
"Almost straight away I started feeling very unwell. After 45 minutes I took out the drip myself and went home."
His condition rapidly worsened. Mr Brooks said: "It was like something out of a Hollywood movie the way I was pouring with hot sweat one minute and freezing the next - I'd never felt so ill in my life."
His wife Lisa, 39, rushed him back to Bart's the same evening. Mr Brooks said: "It was so bad I thought, 'This is it, you're dying,' and I told Lisa I loved her and we said our goodbyes.
"I did say a prayer - 'If you are there I need your help' - and in my mind felt so much better."
Doctors spent 10 days pumping him full of antibiotics, putting him on the path to recovery.
He was finally discharged from Bart's seven days before the birth of Monty in June 2002 and has been in remission from acute myeloid leukaemia since. His Max advertising campaign pack has been distributed to 173 NHS trusts across Britain and every trust in the capital will be given one. The pack includes a DVD, stickers, a poster featuring Max and badges for patients to wear which say, "Are your hands clean?"
There has been interest in the campaign from around the world, including America, Australia and China.
Despite his ordeal, Mr Brooks, whose mother was a nurse, bears no ill will to the health service.
He said: "The NHS saved my life and gave me my son through IVF. I owe the doctors and nurses everything." Bart's and the London Trust said there was no evidence that Mr Brooks became infected under its care.
Sarah Dawson, director of nursing at Southend hospital, said: "We're sorry if Mr Brooks acquired an infection here. However, we have implemented a very wide range of improvements in infection control."
Reader views (3)
My son had leukaemia and was treated for over five years
I had many disputes and harrowing moments trying to protect him from untrained staff in shared care hospitals that were extremely unclean it made getting well very difficult. I always had to be aware of what was happening and except for when we were in the specialist hospital we really had a frightening responsibility to make sure things were clean.
My son is still here but a turning point in my attitude had to come after he fitted three times because a bug was pushed into his hickman line to give medication straight to the heart I was told he was having a tantrum.
From then on when he was ill I drove straight to the specialist unit and wouldn't go anywhere else.
Everyone deserves the best care possible when they are in hospital and the nurses should be trained as if every patient matters. Washing your hands is such a simple part of caring and such an easy thing to do so I urge nurses if you really care wash your hands.
thank you
- Victoria Hicks, london england, 13/03/2008 22:44
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Why are we putting up with this situation? These are jumbo jets quantities of people dying or becoming horribly ill and maimed because of lazy NHS carry ons. They will just laugh at 'these packs' and shove them into a cupboard or throw them. You can bet on it! He should have spent the money getting together all similar victims for a 'class action' suing of NHS. That is the only way to improve matters. If it was our hairdresser or our beauticians causing such mayhem with careless dirty and lazy procedures they would be sued and shut down wouldn't they?
It is negligence in extreme- tantamount to manslaughter to not wash hands etc. This NHS scandal is shown up by other countries in EU who have all but irradicated these bugs - rather than just regarding the victims as 'writeoffs' and carrying on as usual.
- Ivor, London, 13/03/2008 14:03
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What a remarkable man, someone who has turned a negative situation into a positive and helping the NHS at the same time.
- B Maloney, Essex, 12/03/2008 12:39
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