Harold Burns

My father was a wonderful man who I miss very much.

He often got colds; bronchitis and pneumonia. In the beginning of May 2018 he started generally not feeling well. He thought he had the flu. Gradually he started complaining of a “sore stomach” and chest pains/breathlessness but said he’d be okay; he didn’t want to bother going to doctor. He started complaining of hallucinations but still refused to go to doctor; I couldn’t force him. On May 25th he started going in and out of awareness and we dialed 9-1-1.

When we got to the hospital and after tests; they told us the seriousness of his situation. Chest X-ray demonstrated diffuse opacities in his lungs; which they attributed to pneumonia. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) The blood work showed his leukocytes count at 54.7; his ph. Blood venous level was 7.24 carbon dioxide levels were low @ 35 and oxygen was high @ 148. They also told us he had gastrointestinal bleeding and he was in septic shock and his organs were shutting down. His condition was grave. They told us he had 24hrs to live; he passed away 5 hours later.

All of the signs were there:
*fever
*confusion
*breathlessness

Yet still sepsis claimed the life of my father. If anything I hope this story reaches maybe one person who it may educate or help.

Source: Shelby Burns, daughter