An Edinburgh mum has issued a warning after revealing that her young son's sore stomach turned out to be the silent killer sepsis. Mum-of-two Katy Graham has shared her harrowing story after nearly losing her youngest son Shay to the condition.
Katy and dad Kev initially raised the alarm after their son became limp and his eyes began to roll towards the back of his head. Five-year-old Shay, who was born with cerebral palsy defied the odds as a youngster by learning to walk and talk.
Despite spending a lot of time in hospital wards throughout his life, his recent trip nearly turned into his most deadly. After having a bowel infection the youngster developed sepsis in the space of an afternoon, becoming unresponsive after contracting the life-threatening infection.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Katy, 37, said: "Shay my youngest son has cerebral palsy so we have been in and out of the Sick Kids hospital all his life.
"From birth, doctors said there will be things he is not able to do such as run, jump and walk but he is a fighter and he has defied them all. Apart from weakness in one arm you can't tell about Shay's condition he walks and runs about and he is almost able bodied.
"It was surreal to be there for something so unrelated to his condition. It came from a bowel infection, that afternoon he had a sore tummy and diarrhoea but by tea time he was lethargic and I thought his eyes were rolling to the back of his head. We decide within ten seconds something wasn’t right and sped to the hospital.
"In the car he was barely conscious and talking and just looked really limp and weak. When we arrived at the Sick Kids he was taken straight out of my arms and onto a bed where they pumped lots of fluids into him."
She continued: "At midnight he went into septic shock, this is when doctors said it was touch and go. He needed an operation but they didn’t know if his heart could handle going under the anaesthetic and it took two hours to decide.
"While we were waiting for news we were in a room thinking positive thoughts, praying, we went down to the chapel to pray and paced around the room. I did about 40,000 steps that day. Shay was put on a ventilator, and pumped up with drugs from all different tubes. We didn’t know if he would make it through it was the worst feeling ever.
"In total we were in the hospital for 22 days, the first day we arrived Ronald McDonald House offered us a room in the hospital so we could stay with Shay.
"The rooms look like they are on a ward but are like hotel rooms, the room was gorgeous you are allocated a fridge and on weekends they gave us an extra bed so Cillian could stay too. I can't thank them enough in such an awful situation there is almost nothing you can do to help but they managed to help us.
"The room had a phone that we could use to call Shay's room in the ICU so every two hours we would call for an update and the nurse would reassure us he was fine. The ICU is totally different to a normal ward, there is something in the room 24/7 and there needs to be space around the bed in case he needs any emergency care."
Little Shay spent three days on the ventilator but after that he got stronger and stronger eventually making a full recovery.
Katy said: "He was wired up to tubes and on a ventilator for three days after that every day he was getting stronger and stronger. He done the impossible and has completely bounced back, because he is five years old as well he wasn’t completely aware about how ill he was which is good.
"As soon as he was stronger even when he was still wired up to a feeding tube he was up and walking all around the hospital and just wanted to play."
The mum-of-two praised the staff at the Edinburgh Sick Kids and Ronald McDonald House for the care and support through the terrifying ordeal.
Katy said: "We knew we wanted to fundraise for Ronald McDonald House when we left the hospital but we needed some time to recover after nearly losing Shay it was really traumatic there was a window of two hours where neither of us knew if he would make it or not and it's the worst moment I have ever had as a parent.
"On Fathers Day we were in the hospital and they had a sign up saying to go to reception where Kev was given a little Fathers Day gift and card. They think of everything I sing praise their praises enough."
The whole family will be taking part in the Kilt Walk in Edinburgh on Sunday September 18. They are raising money in aid of Ronald McDonald House Charities Edinburgh who provide home from home accommodation for families with Children being treated at The Royal Hospital for Sick Children. You can find out more and donate to the fundraising page here.
September marks Sepsis Awareness Month in the UK which aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of the deadly silent killer. It can be very difficult to diagnose the main symptoms are listed below.
Sepsis is the body’s life-threatening reaction to an infection. When sepsis strikes, the immune system overreacts and starts attacking not just the infection, but everything else around it including the body’s own tissues and organs.
Sepsis is the number one cause of preventable death in the world. It is an indiscriminate, deadly condition that can kill a previously healthy adult in a matter of hours – and that’s despite all the advances in vaccines, antibiotics and intensive care.
Sepsis is life-threatening. It can be hard to spot. If you think you or someone you look after has symptoms of sepsis, call 999 or go to A&E. Trust your instincts. You can find out more here.
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