A YOUNG man who survived a heart transplant at five-months-old and blood cancer at five-years-old has once again overcome near-death experience.

Greg Rodgers was devastated to find his non-Hodgkin lymphoma had returned 19 years after his original diagnosis after finding a lump on his neck.

At 24, Mr Rodgers, from Great Ayton, near Stokesley, faced another gruelling round of chemotherapy after already surviving the rare cancer as a child.

However, it was the complication of an infection that Mr Rodgers’ weakened immune system was not able to fight that led to life-threatening sepsis.

The now 26-year-old was being treated at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, when the Ward 33 team noticed their patient had contracted sepsis which is the body’s response to infection that damages its own tissue and organs.

He said: “I was on my last run of chemo and I just got really tired. I did not want to do anything else but sleep.

“The next thing I knew I was waking up and everyone was around me and I panicked and thought what was wrong.

“I had heard of sepsis before but I was just too out of it at the time to know what is happening.

“My heart function had dropped right down so the only option was to put me on the high dependency unit.”

After three days of sepsis treatment, Mr Rodgers – who now works as a trauma admin clerk at the hospital – was well enough to return to Ward 33.

His experience inspired trainee assistant practitioner, Vicky Burton, of the haematology day unit, to create a sepsis collection service that sees a number of blood samples requested at the touch of a button.

Ms Burton said: “[The button] speeds up treatment and ensures all the appropriate tests are completed straight away.

“This improves patient outcomes as well as making it easier for staff to request the blood tests.”

The sepsis collection button was added to the South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s test ordering system as part of Ms Burton’s university project.