A Dad’s Sepsis Story

Oliver was just 5 weeks old when he fell ill with sepsis. In the final blog of the series, dad Cy concludes the family’s story:

Thankfully we were put in front of Nurse Ally, a nurse who knew the signs and symptoms, but think about that for a second – the doctors, the paramedics and us parents weren’t able to spot them.

I hope that someone out there who has no idea what sepsis is, will see my posts and find out more about the symptoms, just to be aware. I tell everyone who will listen now – don’t be frightened to push for more action from doctors or hospitals if you suspect sepsis.

Just ask, “Could it be sepsis?” Get it ruled out. It’s called the silent killer for a reason. So often it’s missed until it’s far too late. We need to stop this happening.

I had been going through therapy following the experience of Oliver getting sick and his time in hospital. Pretty soon into my therapy, Christina fell pregnant! We are completely over the moon and I can’t wait to meet the little one – I’m ready now.

I told my therapist and we spoke about the baby scan. I told her I hadn’t been to the hospital since Oliver was in there and I didn’t know how I’d feel, so we put a plan into place and, when the day came, I remembered our work.

We had our scan, and our baby looks great.

While Christina waited for some blood tests, I was told I had to wait downstairs and it would be a while. I decided to go for a stroll through the hospital – I wanted to see if I could find Nurse Ally.

I saw a lot of doctors and nurses, but I was reluctant to stop them all, their time is so limited. I spoke to three members of staff but none of them knew Ally.

I got to the staff entry to A&E where I remember Oliver being wheeled out. I remembered it felt like everyone was looking at him on that day in 2019. A nurse came through the doors, and I asked her if she knew a Nurse Ally in A&E. She apologized and told me she had been on A&E all week and didn’t know anyone by that name, maybe I should write a letter and leave it at the reception because he’d probably left the hospital.

I thanked her and started walking back along a corridor when I saw another nurse I’d already spoken to and I just gave a friendly smile.

“Did you find her?” she asked

“Well, unfortunately no – Ally’s a he, and he wasn’t on A&E.”

“Oh, when you said Ally, I assumed you meant a woman. There’s an Ally who works in here with me. I can see if he’s in?” She pointed at the door right in front of me and asked me to wait.

A few minutes went by, and I started to panic. What if I don’t recognize him? It was all such a blur.

The door opened, and there he was. I recognized him immediately.

“Hello, how can I help?” he asked. I could tell he was a bit unsure why I had asked for him.

“I know we’re not supposed to, but can I please shake your hand? You saved my son’s life.”

He shook my hand and I told him our story. I showed him a picture of Oliver now and told him Oliver was here because of him taking quick action. Ally told me he was just doing his job, but I didn’t let him off the hook that easily. I told him Oliver was checked over before and he was the only one who recognised sepsis.

Ally told me if you catch it early, you stand a much better chance of beating it. He also told me that I couldn’t blame myself anymore, which to hear from him was incredible.

So many people are not in the position I am to be able to have that conversation. We can stop that if we raise more awareness. Because Ally was aware he saved my son and I had to let him know that.

Thank you, Ally.

I’m now in a position where I believe I have a responsibility to raise more awareness around sepsis, to help raise funds, and to help anyone who may be going through something similar.

The way we beat sepsis is by talking about it. We need to make as many people aware as we can, it will save lives that needn’t be lost.

This September – Sepsis Awareness Month – please make sure you know the symptoms and spread the word.

Thank you.

Two out of every five sepsis cases are in children under 5. Sepsis is indiscriminate and dangerous. We need more research and we need your help to do this. Please click here to donate to Sepsis Research FEAT.

Thank you Cy for sharing your family’s story and helping to spread awareness of this deadly illness.

You can hear more from Cy on his Words of Sepsis podcast episode here.