At 23, after a quiet Saturday night dinner with a friend, following a ‘common cold’, I thought I had bitten my tongue. Tired, I lay on my bed, icing my tongue. Less than an hour later, my tongue had swelled, started to block my airway and left me speechless. We suspected anaphylaxis and my Aunt […]
Sepsis is something I knew nothing about – like so many others. My first encounter with Sepsis occurred when my daughter, Lola, was born. My wifes pregnancy with Lola was the most “normal” of all our 3 kids. However, when she was born she quickly stopped breathing. She was grey, silent and lifeless. I remember […]
Hello, my name is Matthew Turner. I am the youngest child of Andrew Turner who on the 25th of August 2023 passed away suddenly from Sepsis at the age of 58. My Mother Sandra was married to Dad for 37 years. Mum and Dad were always there for us and we always knew that we […]
The Queensland Paediatric Sepsis Mortality Study, led by Dr Paula Lister, is believed to be the first population-based study of childhood sepsis deaths anywhere in the world. This pioneering research marks a major step forward in understanding the true burden of paediatric sepsis. In March of 2024 – the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) […]
Initial Injury and Onset In early 2023, I was recovering from a cold virus when our new 12-week-old puppy, Harriet the Harrier, accidentally scratched my left shin, leaving a 1 cm wound. Initially, I thought little of it. Within 48 hours, I began experiencing flu-like symptoms and gastrointestinal upset. I assumed it was a recurrence […]
In December 2022, toddler Ryan Lines from Broken Hill fell critically ill with sepsis following a Strep A infection. Within days, he was in cardiac arrest and urgently flown to Adelaide for life-saving treatment. Ryan survived—but the impact was profound. He underwent multiple surgeries, including the amputation of both lower legs and several fingers. His […]
On the 12th of August, 2024, I had the birth all women could dream of. It was unmedicated — three and a half hours of labour and half an hour of pushing — and our baby girl entered the world. During pregnancy I only had one dream/nightmare. It was that once I delivered, my placenta […]
Our beautiful boy, Levi Syer, was just 16 years old when our world changed forever. Levi was full of life — a kind, bright, and vibrant teenager with his whole future ahead of him. But in less than 24 hours after first becoming unwell, he was taken from us by Meningococcal B, a fast-moving and deadly bacterial […]
In July 2023, I gave birth to our beautiful second daughter, Avalie. It was a challenging C-section, but we were both discharged home on day two. Avalie was feeding well and seemed healthy.The next day, everything felt normal as we adjusted to life with two little ones. But that night, my mum intuition felt off. […]
