Craig Mackinlay gets ovation on Commons return after hands and feet amputated (2024)

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay was given a standing ovation as he took his place in the Commons ahead of PMQ after being embraced by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle

A Tory MP who had both his hands and feet amputated after he got sepsis has made an emotional return to Parliament.

Craig Mackinlay was given a standing ovation as he took his place in the Commons ahead of PMQs. In a break with convention the South Thanet MP was clapped and cheered from all sides of the House as he said it was an "emotional day".

Mr Mackinlay paid tribute to the NHS staff who treated him - many of who were watching on from the public gallery - telling MPs: "They took me from close to death to where I am today." He called for more to be done to ensure sepsis is identified early, and to make sure amputees like himself can get appropriate prosthetic limbs.

He was embraced by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle as he made his way to the chamber. He paid tribute to Sir Lindsay, revealing he'd come to visit him repeatedly in hospital. And he also gave his thanks to Rishi Sunak, who he said "had been with me" throughout. He said the PM had visited him several times while he was being treated.

MPs on both sides of the House stood up and applauded as a smiling Mr Mackinlay walked into the Commons for the first time since his ordeal. MPs were asking questions about science and technology as he arrived. Tory Minister Julia Lopez said: "Welcome back to the honourable friend for South Thanet, what an appropriate way to walk in on science questions, for the new bionic MP."

Opening PMQs, Keir Starmer told him: "On some occasions this House genuinely comes together as one and we do so today to pay tribute to your courage and determination in not only coming through your awful ordeal but by being here with us in this chamber."

Mr Starmer went on to pay tribute to Mr Mackinlay's "deep sense of service", stating: "Resuming your duties as an MP is an example to all of us." The MP's wife Kati and daughter Olivia were watching on as he received the moving welcome.

Mr Mackinlay has said he is “extremely lucky to be alive” after his horrendous ordeal. The South Thanet MP revealed he had woken up from an induced coma to discover his limbs had turned completely back. Medics had no choice but to amputate his hands and feet in order to save his life.

Mr Mackinlay, 57, yesterday said he wants to be known as the first "bionic MP” after having prosthetic legs and hands fitted. He began to feel unwell one evening in September last year and went to bed early. His wife Kati, who is a pharmacist, became concerned the next morning after she noticed his arms felt cold and she couldn’t feel a pulse. He was rushed to hospital where within half an hour he turned "a very strange blue". Speaking to BBC News, he said: "My whole body, top to bottom, ears, everything, blue.”

Hospital staff realised he had gone into septic shock and he was put into an induced coma that would last for 16 days. His wife was told she should prepare for the worst as he had only a one in 20 chance of survival. Sepsis is a rare but serious condition that happens when the body's immune system overreacts to an infection and attacks its own tissues and organs.

When Mr Mackinlay woke up he found that his arms and legs had “turned black” and felt like hard plastic. It was later decided to amputate his limbs. After he came around after the operation in December he said he felt strangely alert and wondered if the amputations had not actually taken place. "But I woke up and I looked down and you obviously realise that they had,” he told BBC News.

After having prosthetics fitted, Mr Mackinlay has had to relearn how to walk. He said the loss of his hands has been the hardest thing to deal with. "You don't realise how much you do with your hands... use your phone, hold the hand of your child, touch your wife, do the garden," he said, adding that his prosthetic hands are "amazing... but it's never going to be quite the same”.

Despite feeling “lucky” to be alive, Mr Mackinlay said he sometimes has "low moments". "You're in the land of nod having a nice dream, and then you wake up and it's 'I haven't got any hands’,” he said. "That is the realisation every morning.

"It's very easy to say - and I do try and stick to it - there's not much point moaning and complaining or getting down about the things you can't do. You've got to be cheerful and positive about things you can do and I find every day there's something new that I can do.” Mr Mackinlay paid tribute to his wife and his four-year-old daughter Olivia, who he said had adapted “probably better than anybody else frankly”.

He still plans to stand for re-election and hopes that his story will inspire people. "When children come to Parliament's fantastic education centre I want them to be pulling their parents' jacket or skirts or their teacher and saying: 'I want to see the bionic MP today'," he said.