“I might not have woken up”: Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden shares near-death experience from terrifying sepsis shock during chemo

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden revealed in May 2023 that she was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer. In an interview with The Mirror on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, she revealed a harrowing near-death experience in the process of fighting the disease. Amy told the publication that she nearly lost her life after experiencing sepsis and severe blood clots that were caused due to chemotherapy complications.

The Strictly star went on to reveal details of being rushed to the hospital after collapsing while on a walk with her father. She spoke about the day she was in intensive care and had gone into septic shock. She also told the publication what the paramedics later told her.

"If I had gone to bed that night I might not have woken up the next morning," Amy said.

Amy Dowden became a household name after joining BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, and becoming a finalist in 2019. The Welsh professional dancer and her husband, Ben Jones, were the former British National Latin Dance Champions.

Amy's life changed after she discovered a lump on her breast only a day before her honeymoon in April 2023, which turned out to be cancerous.

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Amy Dowden's first two chemo cycles led to near-fatal conditions

While speaking to The Mirror's Emily Retter, Amy Dowden revealed that she had almost lost her life twice, due to chemotherapy complications. After her first chemo cycle, the dancer collapsed as a result of high temperature when she went on a walk with her father.

She was rushed to the hospital where it was revealed that she had gotten an infection and went into a septic show the very next day. It was also revealed that her dangerously low blood pressure could have easily experienced vital organ failure. She had a low heart rate with her infection markers reaching dangerous levels, and she was not able to pass urine for 14 hours.

Dowden recalled the whole thing to the outlet and said that she had been unresponsive to antibiotics for hours.

"My last memory is a load of doctors around me in the early hours of Sunday morning," Amy said.

She was able to finally respond to the third antibody type, after having three different types. She added that when she met the paramedics a week later, they told her that had she gone to bed that night, she wouldn't have "woke up the next morning."

She was informed by her oncologist that she was just unlucky as her sepsis was the result of an infection she got before the start of the treatment. Therefore, she decided to go ahead with the second chemo cycle. However, this cycle also left her facing dire circumstances as complications from the chemo port attached to her vein gave her severe blood clots in the left arm.

She said that she had her chemotherapy scheduled for Thursday but ended up in the hospital on Monday until Wednesday.

"My arm swelled up and went purple and I was really short of breath. So I was rushed back in. It was frightening, too. I’m on blood thinners now for six months," she added.

Dowden had initially refused chemo (Image via Instagram/@amy_dowden)

Amy Dowden revealed to the outlet that she had initially refused to do chemo due to the consequences and disruptions it would have on her life. However, she was convinced by her former dance teacher. The latter had reminded the dancer of the embryos she had frozen through IVF before she began the treatment.

The interview was conducted one day before Amy Dowden began her fifth chemo cycle.