RECOVERING AFTER BEING STRUCK BY SEPSIS AMY DOWDEN THANKS N.H.S. PARAMEDICS FOR THE BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT OF ALL SAVING HER LIFE

From bravely speaking out about her fight with Crohn’s disease to celebrating her joyful wedding last year, Amy Dowden’s life has played out in the pages of hello!.

-  EMILY HORAN

The Strictly Come Dancing professional chose to share her breast cancer diagnosis for the first time with us in May and, since then, her famous fighting spirit has been tested more than ever.

A nightmare situation four weeks ago saw the Caerphilly-born dancer contract sepsis soon after her first round of chemotherapy.

But today marks a ray of happiness following that dark time, because, with the help of hello!, Amy – who is joined by her parents Richard and Gillian and husband Ben Jones – is reuniting with the two medics she credits with saving her life.

“We couldn’t be more grateful to them,” says Amy of West Midlands Ambulance Service advanced paramedic Adam Aston and student paramedic Tom Scott, who attended the call-out to Amy and Ben’s home and insisted on taking the 33-year-old to hospital, where she was treated for sepsis. “I was glad to be able to thank them for saving my life.”

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“We dread to think what would have happened if Adam and Tom hadn’t encouraged us to go to hospital; it doesn’t bear thinking about,” says Richard, who, along with Gillian, called an ambulance on the evening of Saturday 5 August after their daughter began to feel very unwell.

Adam tells us: “Both Tom and I are delighted to meet Amy and her family again.

“It is wonderful to see Amy looking so much better than the first time we saw her. As ambulance staff, we don’t often get the opportunity to find out how our patients are doing after we have attended to them on a 999 call, so this made a nice change.

“The way Amy has been willing to share her cancer journey is inspirational and will undoubtedly help others in a similar position."