Made In Chelsea is back on our screens for season 30. Already, all our favourite familiar faces from the Chelsea set, and some newcomers, are keeping us entertained with more drama, romances and fallouts.
However, for one cast member the new season has played host to some extreme highs and lows. Sam Vanderpump, who recently announced that he and his fiancé Alice Yaxley are expecting a baby together, opened up about contracting and nearly dying of sepsis last season. And in episode seven of the current series, Sam revealed that he has been diagnosed with end-stage liver disease and has been given four to five years to live without a liver transplant.
Here’s what we know…
What happened to Sam Vanderpump?
Sam Vanderpump has spoken openly about his terrifying ordeal with sepsis. In January, he told MailOnline that he ‘nearly died’ after contracting the illness, which was caused by liver and kidney failure. ‘I thought I was going to die. I didn’t think my body could cope and that was the scariest thing. It was terrifying. I remember the doctor saying to me that I was going into liver and kidney failure. I burst into tears,’ he told the publication.
Sam was born with liver and kidney disease, which lay dormant in his body until he got sick with the flu in December. He also has asthma, which caused his organs to struggle with the illness. He was rushed to Westminster Hospital after his fiancée Alice Yaxley called an ambulance – and, according to doctors, this quick thinking saved Sam’s life.
‘You never think the flu will lead to you being in a hospital bed and nearly dying. They told my mum that if I had got to hospital 24-48 hours later, I wouldn’t have made it. By calling the ambulance, my girlfriend literally saved my life,’ Sam told MailOnline.
He continued by explaining the doctors described the function of his liver as ‘deranged’ and ‘demonic’. When his liver stopped working, it had a knock on effect on his heart, pancreas and spleen. ‘And you can feel all this pain and uncomfortableness, I was really, really fighting to keep myself alive. I didn’t think I was going to survive or see the outside of the hospital again,’ he said.
‘They told me I was the sickest patient on the ward.’ Sam suffered terrifying side-effects as a result of the illness, including jaundice and a stomach that was swollen with fluids.
The reality TV star’s jaundice, turned his skin and whites of his eyes yellow. ‘At one point they wanted to stick a needle in me to drain the water but luckily my kidneys started working,’ he told the Daily Mail, revealing that he lost 15kg during the 15 day illness – which he referred to as the most ‘painful’ experience of his life.
In an interview with The Mirror, Sam also addressed how the terrifying experience is still impacting him now. He explained that although he had recovered physically from the ‘terrifying’ experience, he was still struggling with health anxiety. ‘Mentally, it probably is the most challenging thing I’ve gone through,’ he said. ‘There were signs which can so easily be mistaken for common flu symptoms. So now, every time I get a pain or feel a little lethargic, I think, ‘Oh God, am I getting sepsis?’ rather than, ‘Do I have something completely minor?’
Does Sam Vanderpump have end-stage liver disease?
On a recent episode of Made in Chelsea, Sam revealed he now has end-stage liver disease and has been given four to five years to live without a liver transplant. ‘There is no hope of my liver getting better and [the doctor] said I wouldn’t be having this call with you if I thought you could make it through the next four or five years,’ he told Ollie Locke and Tabitha Willett. ‘They’re sending me for liver transplant assessment, so yeah.’
Ollie then asked Sam how he was feeling and he replied: ‘The way I look at it is I’m healthy now, hopefully I will remain healthy all the way up until I’ll get a call and go in for surgery and then I wake up and I’ll be healthier.’
