Sam Vanderpump has opened up further about a near-death experience over the Christmas period.
The Made in Chelsea star, 28, previously revealed he ‘nearly died’ after liver and kidney failure caused his stomach to swell and triggered life-threatening sepsis.
Sam, who is the nephew of Vanderpump Rules and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump, told The Mirror: ‘I got an infection due to a genetic disease I’ve got, which led to sepsis and it ended up quite bad. I was in hospital and it was a close call; I could have died.’
Speaking three months later, he said he had recovered physically from the ‘terrifying’ ordeal but was suffering from health anxiety: ‘Mentally, it probably is the most challenging thing I’ve gone through.’
Sam continued: ‘There were signs which can so easily be mistaken for common flu symptoms. So now, every time I get a pain or feel a little lethargic, I think, ‘Oh God, am I getting sepsis?’ rather than, ‘Do I have something completely minor?’
The Channel 4 star previously said he was rushed to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital after his fiancée Alice Yaxley called an ambulance – a move doctors told him saved his life. If he had waited another 24 hours for treatment, it could have been too late.
While Sam was born with liver and kidney disease, it was dormant up until he contracted the flu in December coupled with asthma, and the organs struggled to cope.
In January, Sam told The Mail: ‘I thought I was going to die. I didn’t think my body could cope and that was the scariest thing. It was terrifying.
‘I remember the doctor saying to me that I was going into liver and kidney failure. I burst into tears.’
He continued: ‘The words they used for the function of my liver were “deranged” and “demonic”.’
When they stopped working, Sam’s heart went into overdrive, and his pancreas and spleen struggled too.
‘And you can feel all this pain and uncomfortableness, I was really, really fighting to keep myself alive. I didn’t think I was going to survive or see the outside of the hospital again,’ he said.
‘You never think the flu will lead to you being in a hospital bed and nearly dying. They told my mum that if I had got to hospital 24-48 hours later, I wouldn’t have made it. By calling the ambulance, my girlfriend literally saved my life.’
He added: ‘They told me I was the sickest patient on the ward.’
The reality TV star also developed jaundice, turning his skin and whites of his eyes yellow.
Another terrifying result of the kidney failure was that no water was being absorbed into his body, so Sam’s stomach – usually with a ‘six pack’ – was left swollen with fluids as if pregnant.
‘At one point they wanted to stick a needle in me to drain the water but luckily my kidneys started working,’ he recalled, revealing that throughout the whole 15-day ordeal he lost 15kg, dubbing it the most ‘painful’ experience of his life.
Sam says the doctors are ‘75% sure’ that having the flu is what caused his immune system to weaken, and the disease to take hold.
The finance app MD is the youngest son of Mark and Simone Vanderpump, with an older brother called Jack.
Businessman and DJ Mark – who was Lisa Vanderpump’s older brother – died in 2018 aged 59 from suicide.
Lisa opened up about her struggle to cope in the wake of Mark’s death on reality show Vanderpump Rules.
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While Sam was discharged by Christmas Eve, he will be taking the experience into every facet of his life – including Made In Chelsea.
Sam vows to spread awareness about the health issues that affected him and shine a light on the charities which help in the E4 show going forward.
The star also thanked everyone for their support on social media, and also shared that his infection has cleared and he’s ‘hopefully on the road to a full recovery’.
A version of this article was first published on January 21, 2024.
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