13/09/2026
This is Alex. He survived sepsis.
Today, Alex is six years old. He's happy, healthy and has just started Year 2.
But when he was 10 months old, we nearly lost him.
Alex had been poorly with what initially seemed like the kind of illness you expect when a baby first starts nursery. He had a high temperature, sickness and diarrhoea, but he was still alert, drinking and didn't have many of the symptoms I associated with sepsis.
He was initially discharged from hospital. The following day, his temperature still wouldn't come down and his condition deteriorated incredibly quickly. He went into septic shock and his body began to shut down.
We were incredibly lucky. Alex was already back in hospital when that happened, and the speed and care of the medical team that night saved his life.
I first wrote about what happened a few years ago because there was one question I couldn't stop asking myself:
What if I'd questioned harder? What if I'd simply asked, “Could it be sepsis?”
I'll never know the answer.
What I do know is that sepsis can be incredibly difficult to spot in babies and children. Alex didn't have every symptom you might expect. He didn't have a rash. He wasn't struggling to breathe. He was still alert until he became very unwell, very quickly.
So on World Sepsis Day, I want to use the platform we have at Muve to tell his story and help more parents know the signs.
Trust your instincts. Know the signs. And if you're worried, ask the question: “Could it be sepsis?”
Please swipe through, save this post and share it. You never know who might need to see it.
You can also read Alex's full story via the link in our bio.
World Sepsis Day · 13 September