Mum felt she was 'losing' son during sepsis battle

Alison McKay said she felt like she was losing her son, Freddie

A mum whose son was put in a medically-induced coma when he developed sepsis said she felt like she was "losing him".

Alison McKay, 37, from Bexhill, said her son Freddie went to school one morning in January "absolutely fine" and "bouncing off the walls", but rapidly deteriorated.

While he started off with sickness and diarrhoea, Ms McKay said his lips went blue and he went "very pale" so she made the decision to take him to A&E at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings.

She described a "whirlwind of emotions" after he collapsed in a toilet in the hospital and doctors made the decision to put him into a coma "to give his body a rest".

Freddie was put into a medically-induced coma

"I think it’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever gone through as a mother," she said.

"I felt like I was losing my child at the time, especially having to give him a kiss when he was being put to sleep, it was terrifying."

Although she first assumed her son had caught a winter bug, she left work after a call from Freddie's dad, Shaine, who had collected him from school, saying he "didn't seem right".

Counting her family as "one of the lucky ones" she said since his recovery the incident has "taken its toll" on Freddie.

But she added: "I know now if I hadn’t got him to that hospital, if I’d left him on the sofa and looked after him at home thinking it was a bug, he probably wouldn’t have seen the next day."

She would encourage parents to "push for answers" and ask for a second opinion if they want it, and hopes to raise awareness of sepsis.

Sepsis is the body's reaction to an infection, and symptoms to look out for include a very high or very low temperature, uncontrolled shivering, fast breathing and very cold or blotchy hands or feet.

In the UK, around 50,000 people die from sepsis each year, according to Sepsis Research FEAT which works to raise awareness of the condition.

Andrew Conway Morris, charity medical director for Sepsis Research FEAT, said sepsis is a challenge because it can arise from any infection and "there isn’t really a single common symptom".

"It’s really looking out for a constellation of things," he added, saying the body's organs effectively get "caught in the crossfire" between the immune system and the bug causing the infection.

He said people should not be afraid of going back to their GP or to hospital if they do not feel better, or if they are feeling worse.

Dr Conway Morris added: "It’s always alright to ask the question: 'Is this sepsis?'"