LONDON (AP) 鈥 A British lawmaker who returned to work this week after losing his hands and feet to sepsis announced Friday that he will not run in the July 4 election.
Conservative legislator was welcomed with a standing ovation in the House of Commons on Wednesday, six months after sepsis put him in a coma and forced the amputation of both hands and both feet.
Mackinlay, 57, had said on Wednesday that he wanted to be known as 鈥渢he bionic MP鈥 and planned to run for another term in office. Hours later, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised most people, including his own lawmakers, by announcing an earlier-than-expected polling day.
Parliament is breaking up on Friday ahead of election day in just under six weeks.
Mackinlay, who has represented the South Thanet district of southeast England in Parliament since 2015, said Friday that the election call had sparked 鈥36 hours of intense soul searching.鈥
鈥淲hilst my heart tells me to stand again, there being so much unfinished business across local regeneration and national issues which are important to me, my head knows this to be impossible at this time,鈥 he wrote on Facebook. 鈥淚t would be difficult to withstand the rigors of an all-out election campaign, a campaign that I鈥檇 always wish to lead from the front.鈥
Mackinlay described in interviews this week how he was taken to hospital on Sept. 28 after feeling ill. At the hospital, he said, he turned 鈥渂right blue鈥 as sepsis caused clotting that stopped blood getting to his limbs.
Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and starts to damage the body鈥檚 tissues and organs.
Suffering from septic shock, Mackinlay was put in an induced coma and his wife was told he had a 5% chance of survival.
He said he plans to campaign for greater awareness of the signs of sepsis, and for Britain鈥檚 state-funded , which treated him and saved his life, to offer better to people who have lost more than one limb.
