The parents of a toddler who was sent home from hospital with what was believed to be a urine infection have issued an emotional warning after the youngster tragically died from sepsis.
Evie Crandle's worried mum and dad took her to be reviewed after she had become lethargic and her lips had turned blue. However, parents Sam and Phil were asked to capture a urine sample and told their 15-month old girl could be treated at home with Calpol and ibuprofen, despite Evie's high temperature of 39.9C and rapid heart rate.
Nurses at Whiston Hospital in St Helen's, Merseyside had moved to reassure the family by putting Evie's symptoms down to the suspected UTI, but the little one later rapidly deteriorated and passed away from the blood infection on April 16, 2018.
An inquest into her death found there had been "missed opportunities" to spot the sepsis, and now, five years on Sam and Phil are lobbying for more awareness of the vital signs children may have the condition, which is treatable in its early stages, reports the Mirror.
"There's very much a culture of it not being escalated and during the inquest there was a lot of conversation about missed opportunities and since then, we've been able to see how important it is for as many people as possible to know the signs," Sam told the Liverpool ECHO.
"But also to feel empowered to challenge decisions, you know your child best so it's about having the tools to ask doctors to explore whether it could be sepsis and ask them to explain why it isn't sepsis but push for tests."
Recalling the awful experience Sam continued: "Her care wasn't being escalated even though she was showing signs. We brought her home and caught her wee for a urine sample and took it to hospital but she was deteriorating quicker and quicker, before we knew it it was an emergency. It was very clear she had sepsis."
And after watching an ITV documentary earlier this week detailing The Crown actor Jason Watkins and wife Clara Francis' story of losing their two-year-old daughter, Maudie, to the condition, Sam emphasised the importance of getting more information out there.
She said: "More people need to know and medical professions need to react and treat as soon as possible. People need to see how quick it can escalate, it doesn't discriminate, it can happen to anyone."
The couple have have since gone on to have two daughters, Lily and Nia, with the latter, now two, herself diagnosed with potential sepsis before recovering after 48 hours of antibiotics treatment.
Sam explained: "It's clear some symptoms are similar to other illnesses but there's a culture of not wanting to give antibiotics but with sepsis, early intervention is key. Alder Hey [Children's Hospital] were amazing with Nia - but had Evie had antibiotics at the first hospital visit, she'd have been fine 48-hours after like Nia and that's really hard to live with.
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"It's very frustrating. It was very clear to us Evie was really poorly but it wasn't clear to doctors and I don't understand how that is possible. Parents should know that their children probably won't tick all the boxes but you know when your child is poorly. We knew it was more than a general illness but we felt reassured that we were overreacting."
In 2019, a coroner concluded Evie died from natural causes contributed to by neglect, saying that St Helens and Knowsley NHS Foundation Trust had agreed to an action plan to prevent a future death of this type. Coroner Julie Goulding also said that she had written to the trust to enquire how the action plan would be implemented.
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According to the NHS, sepsis is life threatening and can be hard to spot. There are lots of possible symptoms that can often mirror those of the flu or a chest infection.
If a baby or young child has the following symptoms, visit A&E straight away:
- blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- a rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- difficulty breathing (you may notice grunting noises or their stomach sucking under their ribcage), breathlessness or breathing very fast
- a weak, high-pitched cry that's not like their normal cry
- not responding like they normally do, or not interested in feeding or normal activities
- being sleepier than normal or difficult to wake
An adult or older child may have any of these symptoms of sepsis:
- acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
- blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- a rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast
However, they may not have all these symptoms.
