Shaving my bikini line almost killed me after an ingrown hair led to deadly sepsis

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MOST of us don’t think twice about shaving our bikini line – but the common habit left Christy Collins fighting for her life, after an infected ingrown hair developed into deadly sepsis.

The content creator noticed a lump on her bikini line after a sweaty day out in London on August 9, and made the mistake of squeezing it.

But within days, the small boil had become a rock-hard mass stretching from her groin to her bum, which the 28-year-old claims was “the size of an iPhone 16 Pro Max”.

Christy started struggling to walk from the pain and even passed out, before going to hospital and being rushed into emergency surgery.

Doctors diagnosed her with sepsis – when the body overreacts to an infection, attacking tissues and organs – and warned that waiting another day to seek treatment could have been life-threatening.

Christy, from Bournemouth, Dorset, said: “The thought that shaving could have killed me is horrible.

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“I thought it was an ingrown hair, but it was the size of an iPhone 16 Pro Max within a couple of days.

“I went to the pub and was so lightheaded, [even though] I’d been staying hydrated.

“All of a sudden my vision went blurry, then it went, and my hearing went. I came around and went home.

“The next day, the sore was getting worse, and I was feeling weak. I was waddling around.

“I called 111, and they told me to go to A&E, but it was late, so I waited until the next day to speak to my GP online, and they gave me antibiotics.

“I couldn’t stand up by the end of the day, but I kept thinking I’d be fine.

“The area on my bum was getting hotter.”

Christy finally went to hospital on the advice of a concerned friend, where doctors discovered how serious the infection had become.

Christy said: “My friend saved my life. I’m so grateful to her.

“At the hospital, it became traumatic. I thought I’d be given a pill, but when they said I needed surgery, I was so scared.

“They said my infection markers and blood pressure were through the roof.

“The doctors said if I were older, it would be a different story, or if I left it an extra day, it would have been life-threatening.

What is sepsis?

Sepsis can develop from something as ordinary as a urinary tract infection, flu, or a cut that becomes infected.

When sepsis strikes, the immune system’s response to an infection rapidly spirals out of control.

It starts attacking not just the infection, but everything else around it, including the body’s own tissues and organs.

The condition is treatable but if not diagnosed promptly, it can lead to septic shock, multiple organ failure and in worst cases, death.

Anyone can develop sepsis, but babies and children, older adults, pregnant and postpartum women, and people with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk.

Sepsis in previously healthy adults can progress to septic shock in a matter of hours.

That’s why it’s crucial to familiarise yourself with the common symptoms of sepsis – it could save a life, maybe even your own.

Sepsis symptoms in adults:

A very high or low body temperature
Uncontrollable shivering
Confusion or disorientation
Passing less urine than normal
Blotchy or cold arms and legs
Fast, or difficulty in, breathing
Rapid heartbeat
Extreme pain or discomfort
Feeling dizzy or faint
Mottled or discoloured skin

Any one of these symptoms alone may point to something else.

But if you or someone you know shows several together, and they are getting worse, don’t wait – seek medical attention immediately.

Source: Sepsis Research

“Then they said I had sepsis. I was crying for days; it was so scary.”

Christy was rushed into theatre for a one-hour operation to remove infected tissue.

“When I woke up, I was in so much pain,” she recalled.

“I was out of it because I was on so many pain medications, and I was hallucinating.”

Christy spent five days recovering in hospital and has been left with a wound around two inches deep and five inches wide.

The wound has been left open so it can heal from the inside out.

She is taking antibiotics and attending her GP surgery every day to have it dressed.

Christy said: “I can’t go out apart from to the doctors.

“My mum is having to shower me, and I need help to go to the toilet.”

Christy is now warning others not to dismiss an ingrown hair if it shows signs of becoming infected.

She added: “I’ve always shaved my bikini line, and ingrown hairs are so common.

“You have to be so careful. The nurse said they see this a lot and to never shave your bikini line.