The parents of a little girl who died of sepsis in 2015 after being sent home from hospital with a diagnosis of viral tonsillitis are holding an event to raise awareness of the condition.
Paul Lunn and Caremark (Thanet) operations and compliance manager Kerry Hill will celebrate daughter Ellie Lunn’s life at the event next month.
Ellie was just 11 months old when she died from sepsis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body responds to an infection by attacking its own tissues and organs.
Kerry, who lives in Ramsgate, initially grew worried about Ellie when she began refusing food and started vomiting. After being referred to A&E by her GP Kerry explained to doctors that Ellie had not wet her nappy for 12 hours and had developed a rash on her stomach.
Ellie was given Dioralyte and Calpol and was later discharged with a diagnosis of viral tonsillitis.
Kerry took little Ellie home thinking she had tonsillitis, and that she would be up and about in a couple of days playing with her twin sister Evie.
Overnight Ellie’s temperature started to come down but tragically the next morning she passed away. Ellie had been fighting sepsis but the Dioralyte and Calpol had masked her symptoms.
Kerry, who is also mum to daughters Millie and Gracie, said: “Losing Ellie was simply heart-breaking and if her symptoms had been recognised earlier there’s a chance that things could have been different.”
This year Ellie would have celebrated her ninth birthday.
According to the UK Sepsis Trust, five people are killed by sepsis every hour in the UK, making it one of the country’s biggest killers but many people are still unsure of the signs and symptoms to look out for.
Caremark Thanet Academy FM will be putting on some events to raise funds for the UK Sepsis Trust to raise the awareness in Ellie’s memory.
The first event , Making Ellie Count, takes place on Sunday, September 3 at the Pavilion in Broadstairs. Thorley Taverns have given the venue for free.
There will be performances from Kieran from Wren, Lauren Friday, Frank Tucker, Lee Patrick, The SuperMicks#TSM, Breed, compere Alex Tucker plus many of the presenters from Academy FM will be there.
The event kicks off at noon and finishes around 6pm.