A man who survived the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in which both his parents died has been told 20 years later that he has been left infertile after contracting sepsis. It means he “can’t continue” his parents’ DNA.

Robert Forkan, 37, was in Sri Lanka with his family when the tsunami - which killed 230,000 in a matter of hours - hit. It devastated parts of Thailand and Indonesia alongside Sri Lanka.

Robert was 17 at the time. He and his brother Paul, then 15, survived by clinging to a rooftop while their parents, Sandra and Kevin, were swept away and died, aged 40 and 54, after saving their younger siblings, Mattie, then 12, and Rosie, then eight.

The children went on to be adopted by their then-21-year-old sister, Marie. Over the past two decades, Robert and Paul have since built orphanages, schools and children’s camps in Sri Lanka and surrounding countries in their parents’ honour.

A Long Journey to Start a Family

After years of selfless work, and having returned from their honeymoon, Robert, who lives in Keswick in the Lake District, and his wife, Roisin, a 37-year-old GP and founder of a workplace health MOT company, moved from London to start a family. However, in October 2023 Robert was diagnosed with urological sepsis – in the same month he underwent surgeries to drain his bladder and treat the sepsis but in November 2023 it came back and spread to his testicles. He had to have one testicle removed, and in April 2024 discovered he is infertile – now, he suffers with post-sepsis syndrome, meaning he is often fatigued and confused but remains optimistic, hoping that he and his wife will have a “miracle”.

“I would say that sepsis is just as scary as facing a tsunami,” Robert, a founder of Preveo, a company specialising in workplace health MOT, said. “Being told you’re infertile, and being an orphan, that now means that I can’t continue my parents’ DNA.

“That’s currently the position that I’m in, which is the most frustrating thing… especially when the 20th anniversary of the tsunami is coming up. I always think, ‘Where’s the rainbow after the storm?'”

The Impact of the Tsunami

In 2000, Robert’s parents Sandra and Kevin, tired of the “rat race,” and inspired by a once-in-a-lifetime trip to India, sold their home in Croydon, south London, to travel the world with their children. By 2004, the family had reached Sri Lanka, where they tragically faced the Boxing Day tsunami.

Robert and his brother Paul survived by clinging to a rooftop while their parents got their younger siblings to safety before being swept away. The four siblings, left orphaned, trekked across the country to find safety and eventually returned to England, where they were adopted by their eldest sister.

“I think you’re stronger than you realise…it’s all about resilience, if you walk a few steps forward each day, you soon turn back and see you’ve walked a million,” Robert said. “I think everyone thinks things like this will never happen to them, until it does.”

The Road to Recovery and Resilience

In 2012, Robert and Paul founded the clothing company Gandys to give back – through it, they established Orphans for Orphans children’s homes, starting in Sri Lanka, and Robert felt like he discovered his “purpose” and “underwent post-trauma growth”. In September 2023, Robert and his wife, Roisin, also launched Preveo, a workplace health MOT company, sharing Rosin’s knowledge on health prevention and Robert’s experience in resilience.

During their honeymoon, he and Roisin visited the children’s camps he helped set up in Bali and Sri Lanka. The trip, which lasted from March 2023 to July 2023, acted as the pair’s big celebration before they moved out of their London home to the Lake District in August 2023 for a quieter life where they hoped to raise a family. In October 2023, Robert, who has always been fit and active, went on one of his usual 10-mile walks but the next day began to feel sick, fatigued, short of breath and had a high temperature.

He added: “I wasn’t feeling 100%…but it suddenly started to hit me – I’ve had Covid, flus, or have felt sick but this was on a different level. You’re rougher than you felt before, it’s not a nice feeling at all.”

Sepsis: A Silent Killer

Roisin took him to A&E as she suspected that he could have sepsis and raised her concerns with the doctors but they initially only identified an internal infection, providing no further details. Despite his symptoms, Robert was discharged the same day with a prescription for antibiotics.

The following day, he collapsed and was taken into hospital by ambulance. This time, after Roisin persisted in her concerns about sepsis, Robert was diagnosed with urological sepsis – an infection affecting his urinary tract, including his bladder, urethra, and kidneys.

He said: “Sepsis is like a silent serial killer that nobody knows about. When I went out on that walk, I was fit, and had no idea there was anything wrong, it was very scary. Because I’m married to a doctor, that was my saving grace – I think if I hadn’t had her, I think I would have got lost in the system and I probably would have overlooked it.”

The same month, he underwent surgeries to drain his bladder and treat the sepsis. However, in November 2023, he was readmitted to hospital with urological sepsis again.

Facing Infertility

Around a week later, he was transferred to Newcastle Hospital as the sepsis infection had spread to his testicles, and he had surgery to remove one of them. In April 2024, in an attempt to preserve Robert’s fertility, doctors tried to freeze his sperm but he received the devastating news that, because of the sepsis infection, he was infertile.

He said: “So we literally just moved out of London to start a family – you kind of have to laugh or cry and no one said life was going to be fair. It’s all about bouncing back from adversity. I don’t know what I’ve done in another life.

“My wife and I have given a lot to our careers – she was on the front line of Covid as a doctor and I’d been putting all this time and effort into everything I’ve done and we thought it was finally time for us to make time for ourselves and start a family.”

Hope for the Future

Robert is now in recovery, dealing with post-sepsis syndrome – day-to-day he experiences brain fog, confusion and fatigue.

“I lost two stone and I’m not particularly big, I was quite slim already,” Robert added. “I’ve been trying to do everything I can, as in eating healthy, getting back to doing some running, or getting back in the gym to try and just build myself back up. Anyone that knows me knows I’m high energy but a lot of that’s been taken away – I’m not the same.”

Since having sepsis, Rob and his wife are inspired to raise awareness, especially through their business. They are also trying to stay positive about the future, and are considering their fertility options, as well as potentially relocating to London or Edinburgh.

Robert said: “I’m still alive, and I’ve got my wife and I’m always optimistic, but it is difficult, I’m going to keep pushing on in life and maybe we might get some kind of miracle. I’m looking forward to focusing on growing Preveo so as many people as possible in the UK can get health tests in the workplace. I’ve always had a hope.”