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Ella, four, suddenly died from sepsis in March 2013Credit: Supplied 8<\/p>\n Little Ella showed clear warning signs of the condition, such as a noticeable rashCredit: Supplied<\/p>\n Laura, 44, has watched her other children grow up without their big sister.<\/p>\n \u201cHer younger brother Ryan is 13 and she has a sister Sadie, 11, who she never met.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir family photos on the walls at home show their whole childhoods so far, Ella\u2019s stop at the age of four.\u201d<\/p>\n Ella suddenly died from sepsis<\/a> in March 2013, after showing clear warning signs<\/a>.<\/p>\n She had been unwell for a week, with symptoms of a typical kid\u2019s bug, visiting the GP at least four times.<\/p>\n But Laura, from Plymouth, says her death could have been avoided had the medics who treated her considered sepsis<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cElla was perfect,\u201d she tells Sun Health<\/a>. \u201cShe adored the colour purple, and loved to dress up as princesses and was a bubbly, smiley little girl.<\/p>\n \u201cElla was rarely unwell and always considered fit and healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ella\u2019s story is painfully similar to Mia Glynn, 8 – and those of countless other children.<\/p>\n Tragic Mia died on December 9, 2022, just 24 hours after seeing the GP about a cough.<\/p>\n Dad Soron Glynn, 40, from Biddulph, Staffordshire, says: \u201cI remember a senior doctor saying they\u2019d done everything they could.<\/p>\n The signs and symptoms of sepsis to look out for, according to The UK Sepsis Trust<\/p>\n \u201cWe had no idea what had happened.<\/p>\n \u201cAs well as grieving our incredible daughter, we had police at the house taking pictures in case anything untoward had happened.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took six days for sepsis to be recognised as the cause of death.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Ron Daniels, founder and chief medical advisor, at The UK Sepsis Trust, says: \u201cEvery day we hear about healthy, young people who develop sepsis and, in what feels like the blink of an eye, lose their life or are left with life-changing after-effects.\u201d<\/p>\n Sepsis kills five people every hour in the UK, and is responsible for more deaths each year (48,000) than breast<\/a>, bowel <\/a>and prostate cancer<\/a> combined.<\/p>\n Yet only 31 per cent of the UK population feel confident in identifying sepsis symptoms if they or someone else were affected, according to The UK Sepsis Trust.<\/p>\n Sepsis, which many may know as the old term of blood poisoning, is when the body overreacts to an infection, rather than helping to fight it.<\/p>\n This can reduce the blood supply to vital organs such as the brain, heart, and kidneys, eventually leading to multiple organ failure<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSepsis arises in people of any age, whether or not they’ve got an underlying illness,\u201d says Dr Daniels.<\/p>\n I felt like we were being fobbed off<\/p>\n Laura Topping<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cAnd although it always starts with an infection such as pneumonia<\/a>, chest infections or urinary tract infections<\/a>, it\u2019s unknown why some people develop sepsis in response to these common infections when others don\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, sepsis presents very differently in each patient and can be really challenging to identify.\u201d<\/p>\n But though sepsis is hard to spot – due to the fact it mimics so many other conditions – doing so quickly is crucial.<\/p>\n The risk of death from sepsis increases by 1-2 per cent with every hour that passes without treatment, says The UK Sepsis Trust.<\/p>\n When Ella fell ill at playgroup on February 25, 2013, she became clingy to Laura, an assistant to a motivational speaker, and had a high temperature.<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n Ella’s mum Laura says her death could have been avoided had the medics who treated her considered sepsisCredit: Supplied 8<\/p>\n She woke up with the bright red rash on her face and her body after a few days of being unwellCredit: Supplied 8<\/p>\n Ella went into cardiac arrest and passed away, but it took weeks for sepsis to be identified as her cause of deathCredit: Supplied<\/p>\n \u201cShe became more feverish as the day went on and started vomiting throughout the night,\u201d Laura says.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband Andrew and I took her to the GP the next morning as her temperature was getting hard to control with paracetamol and ibuprofen.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the doctor said it was a viral infection and we were ‘doing the right thing’ medicating to keep the temperature down and symptoms at bay.\u201d<\/p>\n After another unsettled night, Laura took Ella back to the GP on February 27, after she\u2019d been very uncomfortable and unable to sleep.<\/p>\n She was told again it was a viral infection.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like we were being fobbed off,\u201d recalls Laura. \u201cThe next day Ella woke with a noticeable rash<\/a> on her face, right-hand side and upper arm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went back to the GP in the morning, who diagnosed rubella, which is a viral infection and not treatable with antibiotics.\u201d<\/p>\n She became more feverish as the day went on and started vomiting throughout the night<\/p>\n Laura Topping<\/p><\/blockquote>\n By that afternoon, Laura couldn\u2019t touch Ella because she was in such discomfort.<\/p>\n Lying on the sofa, with a rash progressively getting worse, Laura took her daughter back to the GP for the fourth time who gave her antibiotics for an ear infection.<\/p>\n \u201cBy Friday morning (March 1) she was hallucinating so I called an ambulance,\u201d says Laura.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was limp. She\u2019d developed a bright red rash all over her body, with swollen lips and eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we got to the hospital, they treated it like a contagious disease and we were in isolation.<\/p>\n \u00a0The 6 key symptoms<\/p>\n Dr Ron Daniels says: \u201cThere are six key symptoms you can look for, and they spell the word sepsis.\u201d<\/p>\n S: Slurred speech or confusion \u201cIf you spot any one of those six signs in the context of infection, you should go straight to A&E,\u201d says Dr Daniels.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Sepsis Savvy resources will equip you with the knowledge you need to seek urgent treatment at the right time.”<\/p>\n Visit The Sepsis Trust<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n \u201cThe consultant paediatrician suspected Kawasaki disease<\/a> which is a condition that causes blood vessel inflammation.\u201d<\/p>\n Ella stayed in hospital overnight but by the next morning, she was totally unresponsive. \u201cThey thought it could be meningitis<\/a>,\u201d says Laura. \u201cBefore they could do a lumbar puncture or CT scan though, she went into cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n \u201cThe doctors and nurses worked for hours to bring her back but it was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n It took weeks for sepsis to be identified as the cause of Ella\u2019s death.<\/p>\n \u201cThey told us it was myocarditis, which is an infection in the lining of the heart. It was only when I read the actual postmortem I saw it was sepsis – no one told us.\u201d<\/p>\n Ella was rarely unwell and always considered fit and healthy<\/p>\n Laura Topping<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Derriford\u00a0Hospital in Plymouth, where Ella was treated, expressed its condolences to the family.<\/p>\n Darryn Allcorn, Chief Nurse and Director of Integrated Professions, said: “There were missed opportunities and we fully accept the conclusions reached by the Coroner.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We enhanced the training of staff around sepsis and the utilisation of Paediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWS) in 2015. We know that these changes do not undo the loss suffered by Ella\u2019s family, and we are truly sorry for the pain and grief they have endured.\u201d<\/p>\n But Laura says she\u2019ll never know whether her daughter would have survived had sepsis been identified sooner.<\/p>\n Similarly, it took days for the parents of Mia to be told the cause of her death was sepsis.<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n Mia, 8, also died from sepsis just 24 hours after seeing a GP about a cough.Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n Dad Soron says: \u201cIt sounds like a clich\u00e9, but she was full of energy, bright and inquisitive.<\/p>\n \u201cJust months before she died, I was tucking her into bed one night and she asked me \u2018why are we here?\u2019 It was such a big question. I remember giving her a hug and saying we were put here to enjoy ourselves, enjoy life and be whatever you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Mia never got to grow up and realise her potential though.<\/p>\n She\u2019d been eating less and was struggling with fluids<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n On December 5, she came home from school with a sore throat. By December 8, with Mia getting worse, Katie took her to the GP.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019d been eating less and was struggling with fluids,\u201d says Soron.<\/p>\n \u201cThe doctor said we were doing the right thing but if it got worse to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n Soron and Katie had no idea at the time just how bad things would get for their precious first-born daughter. The afternoon of December 8, Katie took Mia back to the doctors who gave her antibiotics.<\/p>\n But by 1.30am, Mia was unresponsive and the pair called an ambulance.<\/p>\n While Mia was rushed to hospital with three medics in an ambulance, she went into cardiac arrest<\/a> and tragically lost her life.<\/p>\n ‘Misdiagnosed all the time’<\/p>\n Dr Daniels says parents need to be listened to to prevent the needless loss of lives like Mia and Ella\u2019s.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why last year, Martha\u2019s Rule was introduced in NHS England. Martha\u2019s family\u2019s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to, and in 2023 a coroner ruled that Martha, aged 13, would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n Mia pictured laughing with mum Katie, 38Credit: Supplied 8<\/p>\n Soron and Katie founded aiM charity in memory of their daughter MiaCredit: Supplied<\/p>\n![\"Sepsis](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2013-showing-clear-warning-signs-1008739281-1.png\")
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E: Extreme pain in the muscles or joints
P: Passing no urine in a day
S: Severe breathlessness
I: \u2018It feels like I’m going to die\u2019 – \u201cwhich people really do say,\u201d says Dr Daniels.
S: Skin that’s mottled, discoloured or very pale.<\/p>\n\n
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Soron and Mia\u2019s mum Katie, 38, didn\u2019t think much of it and after being dosed up with Calpol, Mia went to school the next day.<\/p>\n
Martha Mills died in 2021 after developing sepsis in hospital, having been admitted with a pancreatic injury after falling off her bike.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/a44f2477-ceb4-4b8c-bf2c-258a85d8f431.jpg\")
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