Jess Bache, from Devon, was rushed to hospital just days after she noticed a small blister following a short 40-minute walk at the start of this month14:24, 17 Jul 2026Updated 14:25, 17 Jul 2026A mother who was rushed to hospital after wearing a pair of Primark sandals for just 40 minutes says she feared her feet would "explode".‌Jess Bache, 25, from Devon, bought a pair of size seven khaki sandals from a Torquay branch of Primark on June 16.‌A few weeks later, on July 9, she went for a 40 minute walk in those sandals. After the walk, she noticed a blister the size of a five pence piece. Her concerns grew when she became feverish, and her foot doubled in size.‌On July 13 she went to the A&E at Torbay Hospital in Devon to get it checked, where she was diagnosed with cellulitis. Cellulitis is described by the NHS as “a skin infection that's treated with antibiotics”.They added: “Cellulitis makes your skin painful, hot and swollen. The area usually looks red, but this may be less obvious on brown or black skin. Your skin may also be blistered. You may also feel unwell and have flu-like symptoms, with swollen, painful glands.”‌Photos of Jess’s foot show it severely swollen with orange pus emanating from it. The mother-of-two, who has said she won’t buy cheap sandals again, has since described her horrifying experience.She said: "It just looked like a normal blister and the skin had come off my foot. By Saturday my whole foot had swollen up and then on Sunday I was on the phone to 111 asking for advice."It was throbbing and I couldn't put weight on it and I could barely walk. It felt like I had pins and needles in my foot constantly. The blister turned like a blood clot on my foot and it was seeping orange pus.‌"On Monday I could barely walk and this is when I knew I needed to go to A&E as I couldn't do anything. My foot felt like it was filled with liquid and would explode.“When you put weight on it, it felt like it would burst. It felt really tight and if you put added pressure on it, it would burst. I felt feverish and I thought I had an infection.“It was seeping orange pus still and started opening a bit. The doctors bandaged it up and told me I had cellulitis, which is an infection one step before sepsis.”‌Jess added that she was worried that her cellulitis could have turned into a “deadly infection” if she had left it any longer. Jess added that she had previously had no problems buying shoes from Primark in the past.Fortunately, the antibiotics have started to work, but Jess says she fears she’ll be left with a scar. She also discovered she wasn’t the only one after she posted a video to TikTok.‌She said: "It's put me off buying cheaper sandals and I've binned these ones. I'd now opt for more expensive sandals as this was a nightmare."Jess added: “I would tell people who are shopping for sandals this summer to go more expensive. Honestly this could have ended up 10 times worse and could have turned into sepsis."After Jess posted her video on TikTok, it amassed around 200,000 views and 65 comments within a matter of hours with people sharing their experiences.Article continues belowOne person said: "The same happened to me - exact same place. Never worn them since." Another commented: “This happened to me! I wore them one time on holiday last year. I've still got scars on both feet from them rubbing me over a year later."A third added: "I had this two years ago and still have the mark."A spokesperson for Primark said: "We take the quality and comfort of our products very seriously and work closely with our suppliers and quality teams to ensure our products meet our high standards. We would encourage the customer to get in contact with us directly so we can look into it further."