William’s Sepsis Story

In 2020, three-year-old William, from Nottingham, became severely ill with sepsis leading to life-changing injuries. 

In January 2020, Gemma collected her son, William, then three, from nursery and headed to the play centre. He appeared tired but Gemma thought it was due to returning to nursery full time after the Christmas break. However, he didn’t eat his tea whilst at the play centre and vomited on the way home. Gemma thought “he must have picked up a sickness bug at nursery”.

William became progressively more unwell over the weekend. Gemma says, “He developed a high temperature and was very lethargic. He didn’t want to eat and complained of a sore throat and had a cough. I dosed him up with Calpol and kept a close eye on him”.  

By Monday morning, William’s condition had gotten worse, “We noticed he had a rash on his body. His cough was stopping him from getting any rest and he seemed exhausted. I took him straight to the GP, who thought he had a virus, advised us to keep on with the Calpol and bring him back if he was no better within a couple of days”.  

At this point, Gemma and her husband Mike were very worried, they had never seen him so unwell. “Mike happened to spot an article on Facebook about scarlet fever doing the rounds. I looked at the symptoms on the NHS website and suspected that’s what William had. I decided to phone 111. After explaining our concerns, we were advised to take him into the out of hours centre at our local A&E”.  

Gemma took William to A&E, leaving Mike and their daughter Georgia at home. She thought she would just receive some antibiotics and would hopefully be back home soon. They were seen by a nurse who examined William, she looked concerned and wanted a paediatric doctor to check him over. “She had found a crackle on his left lung which needed further investigation.  We were taken round to resus, where I was told they needed to X-ray his chest, take some blood and get some fluids into him”. 

Gemma concentrated on reassuring William and trying not to panic. She says “A doctor came to examine him, paying close attention to his rash and the whole atmosphere suddenly changed. His cubicle filled up with doctors and nurses”.  It was then that the doctor told Gemma that they suspected William had sepsis and confirmed he was very poorly. She was urged to get her husband over to the hospital as soon as possible.

“We were told William would need to be put into an induced coma to allow his body to rest, and arrangements were being made for him to be transferred to the nearest paediatric intensive care unit at Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. It was the start of a nightmare we couldn’t wake up from.  

Nothing could prepare us for seeing our little boy, ventilated with pipes and wires coming from every direction. Pumped with so much fluid his face was barely recognisable”, says Gemma. On arrival at the QMU, their whole world collapsed around them when a doctor came to see them and said, ‘I am so sorry, William’s heart has stopped beating. We are doing everything we can to get it going again but I think you should come and be with him’. Thankfully, by the time they got to William, the CPR had worked and his heart began beating again.

There must have been over 20 doctors and nurses around his bed, it was like a scene you only see on TV.  I was shouting, begging them not to let him die. Mike had to pull me away so they could do their job”.

Gemma says the following week was the hardest week of their lives. “We were told that he was on the maximum amount of life support they could offer, and that if his heart was to stop again, they wouldn’t be able to do anything for him. It was up to William now to fight. And fight he did.”

During the week, plastic surgeons told Gemma and her husband that sepsis and the drugs used had caused irreparable damage to his hands, feet and ears and there would be some level of amputation required to all four limbs, “I asked if he was going to live and clearly remember the doctor saying, ‘We are doing everything we can’. I told them we didn’t care what he would lose, we just needed him to survive”.

Medical staff were able to reduce his life support over time and after eight days, they were finally able to take him off the ventilator. Gemma says “It wasn’t the elative event we had hoped for, he was still extremely unwell and over the following days it became apparent sepsis had also caused a brain injury, leaving William unable to speak for several weeks. His lung collapsed three times and each time meant the painful insertion of a chest drain. His kidneys had failed, and hours of daily haemodialysis were grueling for him”. 

Bit by bit, he began to improve but the damage to his limbs became clear, “Dressing changes were traumatic and painful. Surgeons wanted to wait as long as possible to allow any tissue that may recover, a chance to do so.” explains Gemma. “Thankfully, the deep purple on his ears began to fade and his ears just about fully recovered. William coped incredibly well, his amazing attitude and determination to get better meant he never stopped smiling. We would often find him sitting in bed doing the exercises the physios had shown him, without even being asked”.  

In March 2020, William underwent surgery to amputate both legs, through the knee and below the knee and nine fingers, “As devastating as it was, it marked the start of William’s recovery” says Gemma. Just over a week later, they were allowed to go home and were officially discharged on 16th March 2020, “He was sore and weak, still being fed via a nasal tube, but still smiling”.  Spurred on by his little sister, William went from strength to strength over the following months. “He saw every obstacle as a challenge to master and was climbing stairs and scaling the furniture quicker than we ever imagined. He healed incredibly well and by the end of April he was cast for prosthetic legs”.

September saw a major milestone in William’s recovery – he started school. Gemma says “Watching him walk into school that morning was one of the proudest moments of our lives. He loves school and has made lots of friends”. Whilst he still has a long journey ahead of him, his infectious smile and positivity has made a difficult year a lot easier.

Gemma highlights the importance of understanding the signs of sepsis: “we urge everyone to be sepsis aware and know the signs, it could save a life. More than that, I implore every parent to trust their instincts. Seek a second opinion if you aren’t happy, nobody knows your child better than you. Had we left William in bed that night, he wouldn’t have survived the night. And that doesn’t bear thinking about”.  

Click here to hear Gemma speak firsthand about the family’s experience on their Words of Sepsis podcast.