My name is Cassandra Marshall and I survived sepsis.

December 31st, 2023 I started feeling sick, the following morning we went to our local Urgent care and was sent to a local Hospital with an appendicitis diagnosis. At the hospital after tests were run I was cleared of appendicitis and sent home with cough meds and orders to rest and hydrate.

January 2nd, 2024 Justin, my husband, was leaving to get my meds the hospital ordered when things took a turn for the worse, before I knew it I couldn’t breathe and I was disoriented. My oldest daughter immediately noticed something was off, called 911 and yelled out for my husband before he could pull off. This is the last thing I remember before my whole life changed…

Cassandra was taken to UNC Morehead Hospital where she was intubated and died multiple times before being life flighted to Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC. After spending a few days at Duke fighting for her life, while doctors fought to find answers on what was happening, they brought in infectious disease specialists and finally got the diagnosis she had Strep A and Flu B along with blood poisoning and a lung collapse ultimately leading to her body going into septic shock. She was on Echmo for 3.5 weeks, every tube, medication and IV you could think of fighting to come back to her life with her husband and kids. Being on Echmo to save her life also came at a cost, very soon after being put on Echmo her family notice her fingers and toes changing colors, doctors said it was gangrene. Every day as she faught for her life, the gangrene was also fighting back and slowly crept further and further up her limbs.

Finally it got to the point where they had to make the gut wrenching decision… her limbs or her life.

Doctors and the family made the decision to lighten sedation and she had the unimaginable confusion of waking up in a hospital hooked to multiple tubes and wires with all 4 of your limbs completely bandaged up, then being told they have to amputate those bandaged limbs. By the end of the following week, Cassandra had become a quad amputee. She spent a total of 5.5 months at Duke Hospital but her story didn’t end there. She had a whole life to go home to, a husband and 4 children to take care of.

Despite these unimaginable challenges, Cassandra has been denied disability benefits four times, the most recent denial coming just two days before Christmas.

This family was once thriving, building their dreams together. Now, they face the unthinkable choice of separation or divorce just to qualify for assistance. How can this be the only solution?

This is a broken system. Cassandra is a quad amputee who desperately needs help. We must do better for those who truly need disability benefits. Families like Cassandra’s should not be forced to sacrifice everything after already losing so much.