My little boy died in my arms on his birthday, the four words that could have saved him that all parents must know
A MUM who lost her son to sepsis on his first birthday has urged parents with sick kids to consider a four-word question.
The life-threatening condition often stems from respiratory, abdominal or urinary infections.
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It was only when a nurse remarked on Archie’s demeanour while having a cannular inserted – and Kylie informed her that it wasn’t because her son was being calm, but because he was so lethargic “he couldn’t move” – that she felt her concern was finally taken seriously.
“They ended up putting a catheter in, and there were tubes coming out of what felt like everywhere, but still, nothing was making him wee,” Kylie said.
“And that was because all of his organs were shutting down because he had turned septic – but nobody knew that at this point.”
No closer to an answer, the Reads went to sleep in a nearby hospital room – only to be woken half an hour later by “banging at the door”.
“It was the nurse coming to say – I don’t even remember what she was saying, but she sat us down and she was saying all these words, and I’m just saying to her, ‘Is he alive? What’s happening? Get to the point’,” Kylie said.
“And she still didn’t answer me, so I took off down to his room, and that’s when we saw all of the doctors around him.
“Once they realised it was sepsis, it was all too late,” Kylie said.
“They’ve put that document in front of me saying, ‘He should still be alive’.
“It was the eight missed opportunities that killed him.”
In memory of their son, the Read family developed Walk for Archie, an annual event held each September in Lake Macquarie that raises funds for Sepsis Australia and awareness around the condition.
“I had honestly never heard of sepsis (before Archie’s death). I had no idea what it was – neither did most of our family or our friends,” Kylie said.
“That’s why we’ve started this walk – purely to raise awareness of sepsis.
“And the amount of people who know about it now, just because of Archie, is incredible. I’ve already heard of the lives his story has saved, because people questioned, ‘Could it be sepsis?’.”
It’s a four-word question that, Kylie said, could ultimately save your child’s life.
“If you’re in the hospital room, or at the doctor’s, just ask the question,” she said.
“And it might not be sepsis, but we just want to get that one word into the back of people’s minds.
“It wasn’t questioned once when we were in there. My husband and I now know that if we did say those words, right back at the start, and the hospital had acted on it, Archie would still be here now.”
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You can donate to Sepsis Australia, .