A young woman who tried to treat her mild urinary infection with just “water and cranberry juice” was rushed to hospital after developing deadly sepsis.<br /><br />Maisie Lewis, 20, tried to 'flush out' the urinary tract infection(UTI) for four days after first noticing that she needed to use the toilet more frequently.<br /><br />But her symptoms were got worse - including 'excruciating' lower back and pain while passing urine - and she finally went to her GP. <br /><br />She was sent home with antibiotics - but she deteriorated quickly, noticing hot and cold flashes, as well as dizziness, shakiness and hallucinations. <br /><br />She was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with urosepsis - a specific type of sepsis which develops from UTIs and cystitis.<br /><br />Now she is urging other women to take their UTIs seriously. <br /><br />Maisie, a self-employed hair stylist from Cardiff, said: “Every single woman has had a UTI in her lifetime - I didn’t even realise you could get sepsis from it. <br /><br />“If I’d known how ill you could get just from ignoring a UTI, I never would’ve left it.<br /><br />“People need to know how bad things can get… My body went through so much in such a short space of time.”<br /><br />A UTI - or urinary tract infection - is an infection in your bladder, kidneys or the tubes connected to them. <br /><br />Maisie first noticed her symptoms in late August, while on holiday in Milan. <br /><br />She said she felt “absolutely fine” - aside from needing to go to the toilet more often. <br /><br />But within four days of treating it at home by drinking lots of water and cranberry juice, Maisie said her symptoms became “dramatically worse”. <br /><br />Her lower back became painful, and using the toilet was “excruciating.”<br /><br />Suspecting a kidney infection, she visited her GP once she arrived home - who took a urine sample and prescribed a course of antibiotics, lasting two weeks. <br /><br /> “I had hardly any side effects at first,” Maisie said. “All I noticed was that I needed to use the loo more. That was literally it.<br /><br />“I get UTIs all the time - just like every other woman. Nothing flagged up for me because I’d had them so much worse in the past. <br /><br />“This was minor. But I went from absolutely fine to quite severe within a matter of days… it got progressively worse. I had a bad back and it hurt to wee. <br /><br />“I called my GP a couple of times at first - after being told to keep treating it at home by drinking lots of water, they asked me to come in.<br /><br />“I did a urine sample, they told me I likely had signs of a kidney infection, and then I was sent home with antibiotics.”<br /><br />Within two weeks of first noticing the “mild” UTI, Maisie began having hot and cold flashes, as well as dizziness and shakiness. <br /><br />She told her parents and they rushed her to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Bridgend with suspected sepsis. <br /><br />She was hooked up to a heart monitor, which showed her heart rate “skyrocketing” to 130 BPM - and was told her organs were beginning to shut down. <br /><br />“I was given the strongest antibiotics you can possibly have,” Maisie added. “I was hooked up to an IV drip; flui
