Riley Doran

My son Riley was 6 when I first noticed the spots. Having had 2 older children that had chicken pox as little ones, I knew the signs, but to be sure we took him to see the doctor. She said it was a mild case not to worry. That was the Sunday. (Sepsis and Children)

Riley went downhill sleeping a lot, not really eating, but it was the Tuesday night he developed a big lump on his neck and became unresponsive. That’s when we phoned an ambulance

He was rushed to hospital given fluids and oxygen but not improving. A day later he was taken to a hospital in Edinburgh, taken to ICU and put into a coma where he remained for 2 weeks. He had sepsis and streptococcus and was on around 7 different antibiotics.

Nothing prepared me for seeing my little boy in ICU. It broke my heart.

The strep infection was persistent. He was in hospital on antibiotics for 3 months and went into theatre (surgery) 13 times to have the infection drained. He also needed a skin graft.

3 years on, the dark circles remain under his eyes and he still gets tired easily. The scars are my reminder. All this in his life and he has autism too. He has coped amazingly with all this. He’s a true little fighter, and I’ll always be so thankful to the doctors and nurses they saved my little boy.

Source: Gillian Hay (Riley's mother)