Sheffield mum's sepsis warning after Children's Hospital admits failures before baby daughter's death
Health bosses failed to recognise or act on suspected signs of life-threatening condition
A four-month-old baby died of sepsis after Sheffield health bosses failed to spot signs of the life-threatening condition a day before she died.
Infant Kyra Ali Aslam underwent surgery in August 2022 to reverse a stoma at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
However, solicitors Irwin Mitchell say medics did not fully outline the risks of surgery to her mum Lariece Greaves or obtain adequate consent.
Following surgery, Kyra’s bowel started leaking - but doctors believed Kyra’s bowel was not simply working properly after surgery and ruled a leak would be a rare complication.
By the time she underwent surgery to try and repair her leaking bowel, Kyra was not stable enough to proceed. She died two days after her stoma surgery.
Now, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has admitted a breach of duty to to mum Lariece, stating it failed to take action to treat Kyra’s sepsis.
It also admitted that if she had received appropriate care, Kyra would likely have survived.
The Trust has formally apologised for what has happened.
Lariece said: “Kyra, also known as Dolly Bleu by her family, was the most beautiful little girl with the biggest smile. She brought so much love and happiness into our lives and I feel incredibly lucky to have been her mum, even though our time together was cruelly cut far too short.
"Not a day goes by when I don't think about her. I'll never stop loving or missing her, and there's a hole in my life that can never be filled. Losing her at the age we did and in the circumstances we did is something I will carry with me forever.”
Lariece is now using Sepsis Awareness Month in warning of the dangers of condition - which occurs when the body attacks itself in response to an infection.
Medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, Sinead Rollinson-Hayes, said: “This is a truly tragic case and one that would have been avoided if Kyra received the care she should have.
“Sadly, through our work we see the devastating impact of sepsis and nothing brings that into sharper focus than what happened to Kyra.
“While we’re pleased to have secured Lariece with the answers she deserves, nothing can ever make up for what her family have been through. However, we hope this brings some form of closure to Lariece.
“In the meantime, it’s vital that lessons are learned to improve care for other families. Sepsis is incredibly dangerous but treatable with early detection and treatment.”
Signs that something was not right after Kyra’s surgery emerged when Lariece told medics her daughter was not behaving as she did before the operation.
Soon after, Kyra then started vomiting, and nursing staff feared Kyra had sepsis and raised concerns with medical staff.
Kyra’s condition continued to deteriorate and she was taken to surgery the following day. However, she died at 3.40pm on August 13, shortly after arriving in theatre.
Lariece said: "When Kyra died, our world fell apart. As a family we've had to learn to live with that loss, while also trying to understand whether more could have been done to save her.
"I owed it to Kyra to keep asking questions and fighting for answers. The Trust finally admitting failings is bittersweet. While they provide the answers Kyra deserved, and that she was badly let down, I still don’t get to watch Kyra grow up and celebrate milestones in life. It’s difficult not to think she should be at home with her family.
"Nothing will ever bring Kyra, but I hope sharing her story encourages people to learn more about sepsis and recognise the warning signs. If greater awareness helps another family avoid going through what we've experienced, then Kyra’s death might not have been totally in vain."
Following a separate inquest into Kyra’s death, a corner issued a prevention of future deaths report. In the report dated December 2023 the coroner called on the hospital to outline what measures it would take to improve care.
The report said Lariece was told the stoma reversal would be “much more straightforward” than the operation to create it. When she raised concerns about Kyra’s condition post-surgery “insufficient weight was placed” on her fears, it added.
The report also ruled “that insufficient weight was placed on the nursing concerns about Kyra” following her surgery. When nurses raised concerns Kyra may have sepsis, medical staff said a leaking bowel would be a rare complication and believed Kyra’s bowel wasn’t working properly after surgery, the report said.
In the civil case, while the Trust initially admitted it failed to adequately obtain consent for Kyra’s stoma reversal and failed to recognise Kyra had features of sepsis, it denied a breach of duty.
However, following further legal submissions the Trust admitted a breach of duty.
The charity UK Sepsis Trust says the signs of sepsis include slurred speech, confusion, extreme shivering and muscle pain, passing no urine in a day, severe breathlessness, raised temperature, high heart rate and mottled or discoloured skin.
Sepsis Awareness Month runs through September.
Dr Jeff Perring, executive medical director at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are sorry for the loss of Kyra and recognise the profound impact this has had on her family.
“Over recent years we have focused on sepsis awareness, and we are continuing to make improvements, such as refining clinical guidance, championing new training and education across our organisation to help us recognise sepsis early and to treat it quickly and effectively. To support this work, we have also appointed our first Sepsis Lead Nurse.
“Our thoughts remain with Kyra’s family, and while nothing can change their loss, we are committed to ensuring the learning from Kyra’s care leads to meaningful improvements for other children and families.”