CLOSER NEWS REPORT
48,000 people in the UK die from sepsis every year. Closer speaks to one mum who welcomes a new ruling to prevent deaths…
When Melissa Mead’s son came home from nursery with a cough, she booked him a GP appointment. But the doctor assured her one-year-old William just had a viral infection and would soon be fine.
But William’s cough got worse and despite another trip to the GP and a call to 111, Melissa’s concerns were dismissed. Tragically, days later, when Melissa went to wake William, she found he had died in his sleep.
The coroner told the family William had a bacterial chest infection, which then led to pneumonia and sepsis. There had been 16 failures that contributed to William’s death, and four missed opportunities to save his life.
SECOND OPINION
Melissa, 37, who lives in Cornwall with her husband Paul, says, “Knowing William should have survived was very difficult to live with. I could have been consumed by anger, hatred and regret, but they were emotions William never knew. I needed to do something to continue being William’s mum, and I found that in raising awareness of sepsis and its symptoms.”
Next month will see the roll out of a new law, Martha’s Rule, to give patients, their families and carers the right to a second medical opinion if their condition worsens.
The rule is named after 13-year-old Martha Mills, who was admitted to hospital after a minor cycling accident in 2021. Her condition wasn’t believed to be life-threatening but as her health deteriorated, her parents, Merope and Paul, expressed their concerns to medical staff. Nothing was done, and tragically, Martha died from sepsis, the body’s extreme response to infection. The following year, a coroner ruled Martha would have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs and transferred her to intensive care earlier.
SILENT KILLER
Sepsis is often dubbed the “silent killer” because its symptoms can mimic those of other illnesses, like the flu. But sadly, the condition isn’t as uncommon as many might think. If caught early it can be treated with antibiotics, otherwise it can prove fatal.
Colin Graham, Chief Operating Officer at Sepsis Research FEAT, says, “Sepsis is an indiscriminate condition that can kill a healthy adult or child in a matter of hours. Globally, it takes the lives of around 11 million people a year, making it a bigger killer than cancer.
“Yet many are still unaware of how serious sepsis is, which is why raising awareness of this deadly condition is vital.”
Martha’s Rule has been welcomed by Melissa. She says, “William was the perfect little boy. Paul and I adored him. In October 2014, William picked up a cough at nursery. Although a doctor assured us he just had a viral infection and would soon be fine, his
