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Man Endures Sepsis and Triple Amputation After Routine Dental Exam

The father-of-two’s family is raising money to pay for his treatments.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedApr 3, 2026, 6:47 PM EDT

UpdatedApr 3, 2026, 6:51 PM EDT

Updated Apr 3, 2026, 6:51 PM EDTPublished Apr 3, 2026, 6:47 PM EDT

A standard dental appointment preceded a devastating health crisis for a Texas father of two, ultimately resulting in septic shock and a triple amputation.

Davon Vanterpool, 34, visited his dentist for a routine visit on Dec. 29 and came home with his gums bleeding.

His 31-year-old wife, Alicia Wilder, arrived home from running errands just 45 minutes later to find her husband in critical condition.

“I knew everything was terribly wrong,” Wilder recalled, according to People.

She continued, “He was shaking and shivering uncontrollably. He said, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m so cold, and I can’t stop shaking.’ He was throwing up, and then he had diarrhea.”

On GoFundMe, Wilder wrote that Vanterpool, a 6-foot-8 man known by loved ones as a “gentle giant,” managed to drive himself to urgent care and then to the emergency room. There, his condition took a turn for the worse.

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“Once at the hospital, doctors confirmed he was in septic shock. His vital organs began shutting down. He was placed on a ventilator and put into a medically induced coma,” Wilder wrote. “His heart stopped twice and required resuscitation. He later underwent double bypass surgery.”

Wilder believed that her husband’s condition was caused by the dentist “poking in his mouth,” which “caused bleeding in his gums” during the appointment.

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Sepsis, also known as blood poisoning, is an extreme, life-threatening response from the body to an infection. Infections can happen anywhere in the mouth, according to the Sepsis Alliance.

“He was otherwise a very normal, active person, dad and worker every day prior to that day,” Wilder said.

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Vanterpool’s condition continued to decline, and he developed purpura fulminans, a rare condition that causes the skin to die. It often leads to amputations, according to the National Library of Medicine.

“His hands turned black and hard,” Wilder said, adding that Vanterpool went into another septic shock after the doctors attempted to remove the dead skin.

After his arrival at the hospital, in order to save his life, Vanterpool underwent the amputation of his right leg, his left leg from below the knee, his right hand, and his left forearm.

On March 12, Wilder shared an update on the fundraising campaign, writing that Vanterpool had made progress in speech therapy. He had expressed that he missed his daughters and that he was afraid but brave.

According to the family’s GoFundMe, Vanterpool is no longer on life support, though he remains ill and in need of costly medical care. The family is collecting money to help pay for his extensive surgeries, long hospital stay, and rehabilitation.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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