Pupils and staff turn red to raise awareness of sepsis

May 28, 2021

Hundreds of pupils and staff at Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools have ‘gone red’ to raise £1,300 for the UK Sepsis Trust.

The red-themed mufti-day, on Thursday 27th May, raised awareness of sepsis, a potentially fatal blood poisoning condition that can affect anyone at any age, resulting in 44,000 deaths in the UK every year.

Sepsis survivor, Lewys, and his friends who supported him made a video with Mrs Rhiannon Wynne Lord, whose son twice overcame the condition, to raise awareness of sepsis and to warn of its symptoms.

In 2019, at the age of 12, Lewys developed sepsis. He was competing in cross-country, rugby sevens and club football games and had no history of illness.

He had flu-like symptoms in the days leading up to his admission to hospital and eventually developed a rash.

He was put on antibiotics but his condition deteriorated and he was put into an induced coma in intensive care. Thankfully, Lewys, now 14 and in Year 10, made a full recovery and is playing sport and enjoying life.

In 2019, Mrs Wynne Lord’s little boy also survived sepsis at six weeks old and then again three weeks later.

The signs were difficult to spot in such a young baby but his high temperate, unwillingness to breastfeed and dry nappies raised the alarm.

After an initial visit to the GP, Albie very quickly deteriorated and on returning to the surgery the doctor immediately called an ambulance.

Albie was rapidly deteriorating and the Wales Air Ambulance Service arrived and the flying doctors acted quickly to save his life in the back of an ambulance in the Waitrose car park.

Albie fell ill again with sepsis a few weeks later but made a good recovery and is now a very lively and happy two year old.

By sharing these stories, the schools are hoping to raise awareness of the symptoms of sepsis because acting quickly is vital to increasing a person’s chances of survival.