Farès Sepsis Story – Taken by Sepsis at Only 13 Years of Age
On Saturday, November 24th, 2018, I tragically lost my son Farès, a child just 13 years old, to sepsis caused by appendicitis.
Farès was a brilliant student attending 4th grade of a college in the Paris region, France.
The week preceding his death, he suffered from abdominal pain and vomiting. During this week, Farès underwent several consultations with both general practitioners and hospital doctors. Everyone came to the same medical finding. According to the doctors, Farès suffered from gastroenteritis. It was a chaotic journey!
Finally, after the fourth doctor visit, Farès was hospitalized, but unfortunately, he did not undergo a radiological examination, only a biological assessment which showed inflammation that did not raise concern for the medical team.
Farès had two major pain attacks in the night of his hospitalization, which were not seen as an emergency, while I kept actively requesting the presence of a doctor. Eventually the next morning, Farès had a septic shock, and even though I was present and alerted the team immediately so that he would be taken care of, the team persisted in saying that it was an anxiety attack.
However, at this point, Farès was at only 60% oxygen saturation, his skin began to mottle and his blood pressure was low. It was then when he would have a cardiac arrest and died in front of me.
Following this drama, I started my research on sepsis and it was then when I discovered that it is a major global public health problem. That's how I got in touch with both the Global Sepsis Alliance and the European Sepsis Alliance. Thanks to these organizations, the latter will mark the beginning of my fight.
I created the France Sepsis Association, an association of patients and families affected by sepsis whose objectives are to raise awareness among the general public and health professionals. Our goal is to avoid deaths caused by sepsis thanks to rapid treatment and early recognition by general practitioners, who should refer patients to the appropriate care unit.
My ambition is to help European and global organizations to lower the mortality rate. Sepsis deaths are preventable if taken care of early and through active education.
The article above was written by Jamila Hedjal and is shared here with her explicit consent. The views in the article do not necessarily represent those of the Global Sepsis Alliance. They are not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The whole team here at the GSA and World Sepsis Day wishes to thank Jamila for sharing her son’s story and for fighting to raise awareness for sepsis.