Justin Ross

My son was diagnosed with a “lung infection…possibly septic” when he was taken to the hospital at 11 am. He died at 8:38 am the next day. I had no idea how fast something like that spreads and to make matters worse, there had been warning signs that I was unaware of until the day after he died.

At 13, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. (Sepsis and Diabetes) This was probably a contributing factor since some of the symptoms he displayed before the medics took him to the hospital had occurred weeks before his death and his gf thought he was in ketoacidosis and would self-diagnosis his symptoms, giving him sugar.

Keto tends to require insulin to bring his blood sugar level down…not up. After his death, his gf sent a video recording of him that had occurred two weeks prior to his death, showing a seizure he had had in the apartment that lasted 21 minutes. I have witnessed many “high sugar levels of ketoacidosis” and low blood sugar levels throughout his life and these seizures were nothing like that. His body was jerking, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t control himself in anyway and she would hug him or dump tablespoons of sugar on cereal and put it into his mouth while he was shaking his head. She even asked him during this seizure if she should call an ambulance and he said yes, but she didn’t. If I had seen the seizure(s) he had, and knew he was a diabetic, it would and should have been a 911 call two weeks or more before his death.

Please never assume that diabetes is the cause for seizures. His oxygen level was being cut off; his kidneys were failing and by the time he was taken to the hospital, no amount of antibiotics could fight sepsis. He was 38 years old and left three children fatherless. I cannot stress enough the importance of educating yourself and others involved when you have a diabetic child.

Source: Julie Evans (his mom)