Our son's life could have been saved if doctors were sepsis aware

A father who still lives “a daily hell” since his son died of sepsis in 2012 travelled from New York to Cork to raise awareness about the relatively common and potentially fatal infection.

Ciaran Staunton’s son was 12 when he cut his elbow during a basketball game. When he became ill overnight, his mother, Orlaith, from Drogheda Co Louth, brought him to a paediatrician in New York where he exhibited low blood pressure, pain, fever and mottled skin.

The paediatrician diagnosed a stomach bug and a second doctor at an emergency department later agreed with this original diagnosis. The second doctor took blood tests for other infections but didn’t check them before discharging Rory.