'Bionic MP': Lawmaker Who Lost Arms and Legs Returns to Parliament

A Conservative Member of Parliament who got sepsis and lost all his limbs last year has returned to Parliament for the first time, to standing applause.

Craig Mackinlay, a British Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party felt unwell on September 27th last year and within 24 hours had lost a pulse in his arms, which had turned a “very strange blue”. He had contracted Sepsis and came close to dying, he said, and his arms and legs turned black during a 16-day induced coma.

The Member of Parliament underwent surgery to remove both arms and both legs on December 1st 2023. Mackinlay says he now hopes to be known as the “bionic MP”

Britain’s National Health Service says of Sepsis: “Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection. It happens when your immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage your body’s own tissues and organs.”

Mackinlay returned to Britain’s Parliament for the first time since the amputations on Wednesday, entering the chamber unaided on prosthetic legs and waving to his colleagues who applauded his arrival. Applause is technically against the rules of Britain’s Parliament, where approval is traditionally expressed through verbal expression, but the Speaker noted it was a special occasion and waived the normal rules.

Also waived for Mr Mackinlay was the normal rules on formal dress, allowing him to appear without a jacket and with sports shoes on, which are best compatible with his new legs.