It’s a momentous day for Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay. Today the Tory politician returned to the Commons following a prolonged battle with sepsis after being admitted to hospital with the life-threatening condition last September. After becoming suddenly unwell overnight, the politician was rushed to A&E where he developed disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). In a bid to save his life, all four of his limbs were amputated.
In a video taken at his bedside by his wife and shared in today’s Telegraph, Mackinlay was filmed before the extreme surgery, telling the camera that ‘this is the last time that these old things [his limbs] which have served me well for 57 years will be attached to me. They are gnarled, dry and desiccated. It will be like saying goodbye to old friends.’ Ahead of his return to the day job, Mackinlay — who now has prosthetic hands and legs — described his remarkable stoicism over his predicament in the newspaper, admitting that: ‘There’s not much you can do about it so there’s not much point in getting upset about it.’
And on re-entering the Commons today, the self-titled ‘bionic MP’ received an unprecedented standing ovation as he made his way to the benches. ‘As you know, we don’t allow clapping,’ Speaker Lindsay Hoyle reminded the House, ‘but this is an exception.’
Watch the clip here:
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