UK ‘bionic MP’ returns to parliament after quadruple amputation

Britain’s Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay arrives at Westminster Palace on Wednesday ahead of the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons. (AFP)

• MPs cheered as Craig Mackinlay — who has called himself “the bionic MP” — took his seat in the House of Commons
• The UK Sepsis Trust says 245,000 people in Britain are affected every year

LONDON: A British lawmaker received a standing ovation in parliament on Wednesday, as he made his first appearance since having his hands and feet amputated due to sepsis.
MPs cheered as Craig Mackinlay — who has called himself “the bionic MP” — took his seat in the House of Commons shortly before Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s weekly question and answer session.
The 57-year-old Conservative MP was rushed to hospital in September last year and spent 16 days in an induced coma before undergoing a quadruple amputation in December.
He has since been fitted with prosthetic hands and legs.
Sunak paid tribute to Mackinlay’s “incredible resilience” while main opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said he had shown “courage and determination.”
Mackinlay acknowledged the cheers and applause, before thanking his wife, daughter and family for their support, as well as medical staff who all watched his return from the public gallery.
He described his return as an “emotional day” but apologized for breaking parliamentary rules by wearing trainers, as his shoes would not fit, and not sporting a jacket because it would not go over his “bionic arm.”
Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and damages the body’s tissues and organs.
The UK Sepsis Trust says 245,000 people in Britain are affected every year, and at least 48,000 die — more than breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined.
Mackinlay recounted in an interview broadcast on Tuesday that his whole body “went a very strange blue” within half an hour of arriving at hospital, having gone into septic shock.
His wife Kati was told that her husband’s chances of emerging from the coma alive were just five percent.
On waking, Mackinlay discovered that his limbs had turned completely back and described them as being “like plastic.”
“They were desiccating, clenched and just looked dead,” he told the BBC.
Mackinlay recalled that he was not surprised when doctors told him they would have to be amputated and he was “surprisingly stoic.”
“They managed to save above the elbows and above the knees,” he told the broadcaster. “So, you might say I’m lucky.”
Mackinlay, a Tory MP since 2015, has said he intends to seek re-election in his constituency in Kent, southeast England, at a general election due this year.