Toby Grimberg contracted sepsis in February 2018. Then aged 10, he spent five days in intensive care. In 2021 he was picked to join Saracen’sdevelopment rugby program.

The first signs that Toby was poorly were like a typical cold, recalls Toby’s mum, Helen Grimberg. He had a weekend of feeling under the weather but a sore throat didn’t hold him back from heading off to school on Monday. Following a trip to the local GP with a slight temperature on Wednesday, he had some bed rest and Calpol which seemed to improve things enough for the all-important hockey match he was desperate to get back to school for on the Friday. However, after sitting out most of the match with little energy, sickness and diarrhea kicked in that evening, accompanied by a temperature. He was so listless – it was not like Toby.

Friday night was spent sleeping next to Helen, so that she could monitor him. By the Saturday morning his temperature was high. He was thirsty and sleepy but still alert. Having checked for rashes, Helen got back onto NHS 111, and was quickly advised that an ambulance would be arranged. When the paramedics arrived to assess Toby, the word “sepsis” was mentioned for the first time, and the family suddenly found themselves being blue lighted to Luton & Dunstable Hospital. Helen remembers the excellent care given by their A&E nurse – another Helen – who quickly started administering antibiotics, whilst the paediatric team narrowed down the potential diagnoses.

Things then went rapidly downhill for Toby, who had been moved to a single room to be hooked up to a myriad of machines – a life support system, what seemed like bags and bags of saline, and intubation.

“It was all a blur” says Helen, looking back on the events of that day “we were told that Toby had a 60% chance of survival and needed to be transferred to a hospital in London with an intensive paediatric unit. I remember it was pouring with rain, and I thought how could we have come to this in less than 24 hours? What had gone so wrong?”

A harrowing three to four hours later, the amazing “angel” transfer doctor had stabilised Toby sufficiently to transport him by ambulance to St Mary’s in Paddington, London. Toby was very sick, having developed sepsis/toxic shock when his simple sore throat had developed into streptococcus; combined with the flu, his body had been overwhelmed and it’s response was to fight back, but against itself rather than the infection.

Toby spent four days in intensive care, intubated for breathing, feeding tube up his nose and intravenous drips in his groin and his arm.

“The care that Toby was given was unbelievable,” says Helen, “as the intensive care team chased to get ahead of the infection, and my husband and I never left his side. It was so traumatic, being away from home, having had to leave our other son at home. We were all in an utter state of shock.”

About four times a day blood was taken from Toby and checked, his skin color was assessed and doctors pressed his flesh to see how quickly the blood returned to the surface. He had physio to remove fluid settling on his lungs, he had his hair combed, his body washed and his teeth brushed. The care was so kind.

“After about 48 hours we started to feel a slight shift and less anxiety around Toby’s condition. On day three we were told that they were ahead of the infection.” When Toby was ‘brought round’ after five days he had not got a clue what had been going on and still thought he was at the Luton & Dunstable hospital.

Transferring back to a general hospital ward at Luton & Dunstable was a sign that Toby was well on the mend, but it was still a challenging time for Toby’s parents. After three more days in the hospital, Toby finally made it home, with regular visits back to the hospital for intravenous antibiotics. It took Toby around six months to recover his full strength and, although he was back at school, he needed to have a sleep during the day in order to keep going.

Now, three years on, Toby is fit and strong. He was awarded Sportsman of the Year at school, competes in county cricket, and has been selected for Saracens development rugby programme. He has survived and is a typical boisterous teenager. But it is an experience that will have a lasting effect on Helen and her family for a long time to come.

“How different my story could be if we had not been assessed so quickly by 111 and at A& E and had the intervention of such amazing Drs and nurses. I will never hear a bad word about the NHS. Looking back now I would always question a GP further and not always take the GP’s word for things – no one knows your child better than you do.”

For Helen, more awareness of sepsis is needed, as well as a support network so they can speak with other parents who have experienced a similar situation.

You can hear Helen speak about Toby’s experience of sepsis in her Words of Sepsis podcast here