A woman nearly died after a cracked tooth left her fighting sepsis.
Courtney Bailey, 19, accidentally cracked her tooth after biting down on her tongue piercing while playing with her dog.
It caused an abscess, which made her vomit – spreading the infection from her gum to her throat.
Overnight, her face became “five times the size” and she was struggling to breathe.
Courtney went to hospital but was told to go to the dentist instead and was given antibiotics.
An allergic reaction to the tablets made her throat swell up more and hindered her breathing.
She rushed to hospital and was told she had sepsis and had to have an operation to remove the infection throat.
If she had come to hospital and hour and a half later she could have lost her life, she claims medics warned.
Courtney, who owns a dog walking business, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: “I looked like Quagmire from Family Guy.
“My face was five times the size.
“It could have cost me my life.
“The hospital said if I’d been an hour and half later I wouldn’t had survived.”
Courtney became “overstimulated” while playing with her chihuahua and accidentally bit down on her tongue piercing and cracked her tooth on April 5, 2025.
She said: “My partner noticed my mouth started to swell.”
But Courtney went to sleep and thought it would get better by morning. But when she woke up the next day her face had swollen even more and she went to hospital.
She said: “I was having trouble breathing.”
The hospital told her they “couldn’t do anything” and she was told to get an emergency dentist appointment to fix her cracked tooth.
Back home Courtney was struggling to swallow food – due to the pain in her throat – and found herself being sick.
This made the abscess worse and at her dentist appointment Courtney was told they couldn’t fix her tooth as she had an infection – and was instead given antibiotics.
But the tablets had penicillin in – which Courtney is allergic too – and she began being sick constantly and her symptoms became worse.
Her partner, Austin Hoy, 21, a joiner, encouraged her to phone 111 on April 9, 2025.
Courtney said: “It was him who saved my life.
“He said ‘if you don’t call 111 you’re going to die’.
“I said my throat was swollen. My heart was racing. I was going in and out of consciousness.”
Courtney rushed to hospital and was told she had sepsis after her bloods were taken.
She said: “It felt like my entire body was burning.”
Courtney was put on a drip and sent to a different hospital and told she needed an operation which she underwent on April 11, 2025.
She said: “They put two little pipes in my throat.
“I had a colostomy bag on my throat while the fluid drained.”
Courtney spent three more days in hospital while her the fluid drained and went home on April 14.
Now she wants to raise awareness of the symptoms of sepsis – such as hot sweats, loss of appetite, disorientation and timid breathing.
She said: “It didn’t phase me at the time.
“I kept my head held high.
“Looking back it was generally the scariest thing.”
