Kim Ward
Norm's Skydive for Sepsis
Fundraising for UK Sepsis Trust
Story
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Last year, our daughter Morgan, almost lost her life to sepsis aged just 2 weeks old. It started when she wasn't putting on any weight, she was being sick more than usual, and was generally unhappy all the time.
At a week old she had an infected toe nail, which went away with some antibiotic cream. A couple of days later she had an inflamed belly button. I told the midwife about the belly
button and also about my concerns over her being generally unwell and grumpy all the time, she told me to stop worrying and that it was my hormones making me feel worried. We took Morgan to the GP who misdiagnosed her with herniated belly button when actually it was part of the sepsis infection.
At 2 weeks we noticed a red mark the size of a fifty pence piece on Morgan's ankle we phoned 111 and they told us it was probably nothing to worry about but to contact the GP first thing in the morning if it was still there. By the next morning the red mark was spreading up to her knee. We phoned our GP who told us babies get rashes all the time and they’re usually nothing to worry about, we asked if he would look at her and he said he didn’t feel the need to, despite all the other symptoms! Thankfully our midwife came that day to do her routine checks on Morgan and said we need to get to the hospital right away. She said she would of called an ambulance but thought we could get to the hospital quicker.
When we arrived at the hospital we had three doctors and two nurses doing blood tests and a lumber puncture on Morgan, all the while she was very lethargic and unhappy. She was taken into the high dependency unit as she wasn't taking in enough oxygen and was struggling to feed.
The tests came back she had Group A Streptococcus (Sepsis) and border line Meningitis. Her infection levels were through the roof, a normal person with a cold has infection levels of around 10, flu around 20, Morgan's were 350+!!
We were so frightened we had seen stories about sepsis on the news but didn't really know what it was or what damage it could do and as for meningitis we knew how serious that was.
The doctor was concerned that the sepsis would have gone into Morgan's joints and so he had her have a MRI scan on her hips and knee joints. It was found she had something in her left hip but it was hard to identify clearly and so we were sent up to Bristol Childrens Hospital where they would perform a more in depth scan.
In Bristol it was confirmed she had infection in her hip joint and that she would have to be operated on immediately if we were to save her leg and her life!
After surgery it was a case of waiting for Morgan's infection levels to come down and for her to fight this horrendous condition which was causing her body to destroy itself.
What a fighter she was, after a week being in Bristol we were allowed to come home, she was still very poorly with infections levels over 50. She still had to be on antibiotics for a month.The community nurses would come to our house every day and give her the antibiotics via a longline that went from her elbow into a valve near her heart.
Since then she has had another less serious bacterial infection and is still being monitored closely to check her immune system is working correctly.
When I tell people she had sepsis, they often say what I said before that they'd heard of it but had no idea what symptoms or signs to look for. But the thing is the signs and symptoms can often be very subtle and easily missed even by healthcare professionals. Not only that but sepsis can start in anyone of any age with any illness, from a cut on your toe to a sore throat.
Morgan’s sepsis was missed by 4 healthcare professionals! My advice would be to always go by your own instincts and always ask if it could be Sepsis!
The UK Sepsis Trust motto is " Just ask, could this be sepsis? " so for whatever reason you might go to the doctors then just ask!
Morgans grandad, Norm aged 60 has volunteered to do a skydive for the UK Sepsis Trust to raise awareness and hopefully save lives!
Please remember this can happen to anyone for any reasons, it kills more people than Bowel, Prostate and Breast cancer put together, in fact it claims the lives of 44,000 people every year!
If caught within the hour a healthcare professional using just basic healthcare equipment can double a patients chance of survival.
By telling more people about sepsis were helping more people survive it - and survive it without severe disability. The more people who know to ask and get diagnosed early, the more people will survive.
Please give generously and help us save lives. Remember, it could happen to you.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Last year, our daughter Morgan, almost lost her life to sepsis aged just 2 weeks old. It started when she wasn't putting on any weight, she was being sick more than usual, and was generally unhappy all the time.
At a week old she had an infected toe nail, which went away with some antibiotic cream. A couple of days later she had an inflamed belly button. I told the midwife about the belly
button and also about my concerns over her being generally unwell and grumpy all the time, she told me to stop worrying and that it was my hormones making me feel worried. We took Morgan to the GP who misdiagnosed her with herniated belly button when actually it was part of the sepsis infection.
At 2 weeks we noticed a red mark the size of a fifty pence piece on Morgan's ankle we phoned 111 and they told us it was probably nothing to worry about but to contact the GP first thing in the morning if it was still there. By the next morning the red mark was spreading up to her knee. We phoned our GP who told us babies get rashes all the time and they’re usually nothing to worry about, we asked if he would look at her and he said he didn’t feel the need to, despite all the other symptoms! Thankfully our midwife came that day to do her routine checks on Morgan and said we need to get to the hospital right away. She said she would of called an ambulance but thought we could get to the hospital quicker.
When we arrived at the hospital we had three doctors and two nurses doing blood tests and a lumber puncture on Morgan, all the while she was very lethargic and unhappy. She was taken into the high dependency unit as she wasn't taking in enough oxygen and was struggling to feed.
The tests came back she had Group A Streptococcus (Sepsis) and border line Meningitis. Her infection levels were through the roof, a normal person with a cold has infection levels of around 10, flu around 20, Morgan's were 350+!!
We were so frightened we had seen stories about sepsis on the news but didn't really know what it was or what damage it could do and as for meningitis we knew how serious that was.
The doctor was concerned that the sepsis would have gone into Morgan's joints and so he had her have a MRI scan on her hips and knee joints. It was found she had something in her left hip but it was hard to identify clearly and so we were sent up to Bristol Childrens Hospital where they would perform a more in depth scan.
In Bristol it was confirmed she had infection in her hip joint and that she would have to be operated on immediately if we were to save her leg and her life!
After surgery it was a case of waiting for Morgan's infection levels to come down and for her to fight this horrendous condition which was causing her body to destroy itself.
What a fighter she was, after a week being in Bristol we were allowed to come home, she was still very poorly with infections levels over 50. She still had to be on antibiotics for a month.The community nurses would come to our house every day and give her the antibiotics via a longline that went from her elbow into a valve near her heart.
Since then she has had another less serious bacterial infection and is still being monitored closely to check her immune system is working correctly.
When I tell people she had sepsis, they often say what I said before that they'd heard of it but had no idea what symptoms or signs to look for. But the thing is the signs and symptoms can often be very subtle and easily missed even by healthcare professionals. Not only that but sepsis can start in anyone of any age with any illness, from a cut on your toe to a sore throat.
Morgan’s sepsis was missed by 4 healthcare professionals! My advice would be to always go by your own instincts and always ask if it could be Sepsis!
The UK Sepsis Trust motto is " Just ask, could this be sepsis? " so for whatever reason you might go to the doctors then just ask!
Morgans grandad, Norm aged 60 has volunteered to do a skydive for the UK Sepsis Trust to raise awareness and hopefully save lives!
Please remember this can happen to anyone for any reasons, it kills more people than Bowel, Prostate and Breast cancer put together, in fact it claims the lives of 44,000 people every year!
If caught within the hour a healthcare professional using just basic healthcare equipment can double a patients chance of survival.
By telling more people about sepsis were helping more people survive it - and survive it without severe disability. The more people who know to ask and get diagnosed early, the more people will survive.
Please give generously and help us save lives. Remember, it could happen to you.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.