WHEN baby Oliver appeared under the weather, his parents thought it was nothing but a common cold.
In their worst nightmares, they never thought their 5-week-old baby would end up in the hospital fighting for his survival.
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Cy and Christina Gregory had been told by a doctor at a walk-in clinic that Oliver was likely just congested, and they were sent home with a prescription for a nasal spray.
Cy, the father of Oliver, tried not to panic when Oliver began acting restless during the night.
Cy, 30, told Central Recorder: “His arms were very floppy, which was alarming, but at the time I thought ‘don’t panic, he’s feeling run down’.
“I was worried, but told myself not to freak out and just use the nasal spray as I’d been told to.
“From 1am he was just moaning in his bedside cot. I got up to meet him, and he was still clinging to my chest. He was deeply buried under my chest.
“I took him downstairs and used the nasal spray again. But every time I put him in his cot or try to put him down, he’d cry.”
Oliver arrived in an ambulance just a few hours later. It was then that it was discovered that he was suffering from sepsis.
Sepsis is often considered a “silent killer”. It comes on rapidly and can be missed, while becoming deadlier with every hour that passes
Even medics fail to spot it, including in Oliver’s case.
Cy was diagnosed this year with PTSD after he felt guilty for not recognizing the signs earlier.
Oliver is now two years old and has made it through.
Cy was unable to forget the trauma of seeing his baby with many tubes and monitors in his body.
Sepsis can leave a lasting impression on families and survivors.
Warning other parents on World Sepsis Day (September 13), Cy said: “Know the symptoms.
“Don’t be frightened to ask if it could be sepsis or push for action if you think it might be.”
Sepsis Research FEAT says there are 25,000 cases of childhood sepsis every year in the UK. The condition affects approximately 220,000 adults.
The charity describes sepsis as “the number one cause” of preventable death worldwide, but the “least well recognised” condition.
It’s symptoms can overlap with many other common conditions and are vague. They can be difficult to spot in children and the elderly.
Cy of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, recalled Oliver’s last day and said that his son was not responding.
“He wasn’t himself,” Cy said. “He was very lethargic and just down in the dumps. I was unable to get a reply from him.
“He sounded like he was congested and very chesty. He was also warm.”
After Cy stayed up with Oliver through the night, Christina noticed Oliver’s breathing had become laboured as his chest was rising and falling heavily.
After talking to NHS 111, an ambulance was sent to the family’s home in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire.
Even paramedics didn’t consider sepsis and offered Cy and Christina the option of whether to go to hospital or not.
Lucky for them, they decided to. It was later discovered that Oliver had been stricken by sepsis by Ally, a male nurse.
Ticking clock
Cy said: “Ally spotted the signs and realised it was the beginning of sepsis right away, but didn’t disclose that and just hooked Oliver up to antibiotics.”
It wasn’t until a few days later that doctors told Cy and Christina that Oliver initially had meningococcal disease, which can first appear as a flu-like illness.
It quickly became sepsis. This is when the body overreacts to an infection and causes it to attack itself.
Cy said: “My wife looked at me and started crying straight away and said we could have lost him.
“My mouth just fell open. It was too extreme. I couldn’t comprehend what we had just heard.
“I knew how time-critical sepsis was. My immediate thought was all those hours he was up with me.”
Oliver was given the strongest antibiotics, and the sepsis was caught quickly.
The symptoms of sepsis in adults and children
The five key symptoms of sepsis in adults and children:
- High or low temperature
- Uncontrolled shivering
- Confusion/acting confused or loss of consciousness
- Passing little urine
- Blotchy or cold arms and legs
The are some additional symptoms seen in children (that may also be seen in adults):
- A fast heartbeat
- A rash – a reddish discolouration or a cluster of tiny blood spots that look like pinpricks in the skin. If untreated, these dark dots gradually get bigger and begin to look like fresh bruises
- Cold, pale or clammy skin
- Nausea and vomiting
- Very lethargic/sleepy or difficult to wake
- Not responding how they usually do or not interested
- Shortness of breath or breathing very fast – you may notice grunting noises or their stomach sucking under their ribcage
- Fit or convulsion
- Not passing urine or having a wet nappy for 12 hours
On Oliver’s fifth day at Bedford hospital, doctors needed to do a lumbar puncture to check he was not at risk of developing meningitis.
This involves inserting a thin needle through the lower spine, while it is still round. The spinal fluid is removed and tested for bacteria.
Cy, who refused doctors’ pleas to him to leave the room, ended up helping nurses hold Oliver in the right position.
Cy said: “I had one hand on his nappy, and the other on the back of his head, holding him still.
“He was screaming, but I was told not to move. His face was bright red, and I can still remember how itchy his throat would have been from the screaming.
“I felt I was causing the discomfort and worried he would be scared of me. That memory is still an upsetting one, it always will be.”
Long road to recovery
Oliver was given the all-clear and discharged a week after his arrival, after doctors found no evidence of bacteria in his spinal fluid.
Oliver was home and made a full recovery thanks to his family.
Cy was shaken by what he thought he could have avoided.
He said: “I didn’t do night feeds again. It was easier for me to trust my wife’s judgment when I saw him before he went to bed.
“As he got older, night time got worse for me.
“If he moaned in the night I’d sight bolt upright, with the feeling of a panic attack. I was afraid of what I would discover.
“When he got his own bedroom, I wanted to sleep on the floor by his door. My fear seemed to get worse due to his communication (speak) skills.
“Then this year, I started having flashbacks of the lumbar puncture.”
Cy finally saw a therapist two years after Oliver’s death. He diagnosed Cy with PTSD from the lumbar puncture.
Cy, who no longer has the flashbacks, said: “I hadn’t dealt with it. I foolishly believed it was punishment for not recognizing the signs.
“I know now that is a ridiculous thought process, thanks to therapy.
“Only one nurse noticed the signs. None of the doctors were incompetent, sepsis is just so easily missed.”
Cy now works with Sepsis Research FEAT in order to raise awareness about the condition. It tragically claims the lives of over 50,000 people every year in the UK.
He is raising money for the charity by doing Tough Mudder on September 18, for which you can donate here.
He is thrilled to announce that he and Christina will be having another child in February 2022.
At their 12-week scan, Cy was able to find Ally – the nurse that spotted sepsis in Oliver – and personally thank him for “saving his son’s life”.
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