If you heard the word sepsis, would you know what it meant?
Six out of ten Australians have never heard the word Sepsis, nor do they know what it is, yet it kills more people than prostate and breast cancer.
One mum from the UK is determined to educate people on this deadly condition that took the life of her one-year old son William Mead.
Melissa Mead shared her heartbreaking story of how William passed away in a video post that has gone viral on Facebook. The mum shared the video on her blog’s facebook page, A Mother Without a Child and the video has had over 176 000 views and has been shared over 648 000 times.
Melissa shared how her William will never get to meet his future sibling because he died in his sleep, from Sepsis on the 14th December 2014.
Melissa and her husband had never heard of sepsis and assumed it was something sick people caught in hospital, but research showed them that was further from the truth.
Sepsis is a condition that occurs when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. Sepsis can arise from common infections including lung infections like pneumonia, water infections, wound infections, bites or joints and burst ulcers.
The effects of Sepsis include shock, multiple organ failure and death.
William died from a complication of un-diagnosed pneumonia. The one-year-old had been ill for two months before he passed away, with doctor diagnosing William with tonsillitis and a virus.
The coroner found William had died from an abscess of the left upper lung lobe contributing to a pleural empyema. It was soon revealed from his blood tests that he was suffering from an Invasive Streptococcal A Infection, Sepsis.
The loss has been devastating to Melissa and her family, especially as she has researched and found that life-saving treatment for sepsis is very straightforward. If the condition is recognized early, antibiotics and fluid injected into the patient within the first hour can halt progression and improve the outcome for the patient.
For William, the diagnosis came too late.
Melissa is determined to raise awareness of Sepsis and fundraise to money for research and innovation in fighting against the condition. She also hopes to raise awareness for medico’s to recognise symptoms of sepsis and see it as a medical emergency.
In the UK 1 person dies from Sepsis every 14 minutes.
Despite her unimaginable loss, Melissa is determined to fight for William and ensure other children don’t get misdiagnosed either.
If you wish to donate to the cause for more research, you can do so here.
If you have any concerns over the health of your baby, please call your GP.
For more information about Sepsis, head to the Australian Sepsis Network.
