HOLLY'S TEARS
Holly Willoughby breaks down in tears as This Morning guest reveals her agony over her son’s death from sepsis… days after Jeremy Hunt publicly apologised to the family
HOLLY Willoughby broke down in tears as she heard a mum's pain over her son's death from sepsis on This Morning today, just days after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt publicly apologised to the family.
Hunt made a speech earlier this week at a memorial service for Melissa Mead's one-year-old son William, admitting the NHS and Government had "let her down".
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Now Melissa has spoken out about her agony following William's death in December 2014, and called on other parents to read up on sepsis and look out for the signs early.
Holly explained: "Doctors failed to spot the signs four times leaving the family devastated. Jeremy Hunt has publicly apologised to Melissa and her family, attending her son's memorial service, and admitting both the Government and the NHS let her down."
As Melissa began to reveal the moment she found her baby dead, Holly broke down in tears at the heartbreaking story.
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"He was just so happy, at the end of our day our cheeks hurt because we'd been laughing all day," Melissa revealed.
"He was just perfect, he was everything we could have dreamed of and more."
Melissa revealed she took William to the GP several time in seven weeks due to a nasty cough, and each time they were told it was a viral infection, despite more symptoms emerging.
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"Two days before he died he got a high fever, and we took him to an emergency doctor, and we were sent home. We didn't find out until after William died that the examination fell below standard."
The family eventually saw several more doctors, all of whom deemed his condition ";non-urgent".
"Within a few hours of speaking to the last doctor, who told us to keep him in bed as that was the best place for him, I went in to check on him and he had passed away," Melissa revealed.
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She added: "I'm blessed he picked me to be his mum, and honoured to call him my son, the impact he's had in his short life is more than I can ever hope to achieve in my lifetime."
A VT later showed Jeremy speaking in church, as he said: "Most services start by asking for forgiveness. And I've come here today to say sorry.
"Because this weekend William should have been enjoying beautiful Cornish sunshine with his parents, and because we, I as Health Secretary, the NHS, let down William, Paul and Melissa, we didn't spot his sepsis before it was too late."
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Melissa revealed William's symptoms included no urine output, high and low temperatures, vomiting, floppiness, there can be a rash
The family worked with Jeremy throughout, and praised his "pivotal" action as "invaluable" since William's death.
Sepsis – known as the “silent killer” – is caused when bacterial infections or blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response, which sees the body attack its own organs.
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