In 2014, when he was just 12-months-old, William Mead died suddenly and unexpectedly from sepsis. Millions across the UK followed Melissa’s story, supporting her efforts as she shared her story to prevent other families from having to experience what hers did. Melissa didn’t get angry — she got active.  

Meanwhile, Professor Akash Deep, a paediatric intensive care specialist at Kings College Hospital, was working hard to raise sepsis awareness within a clinical setting and drive positive change.  

Now, Melissa works as UKST’s Clinical Partnerships Lead and Akash is one of the charity’s trustees. Despite coming at the problem from two different perspectives, they were united by their purpose: to end preventable deaths caused by sepsis.  

This Sepsis Awareness Month, the pair have co-written an article, published in medical journal The Lancet, entitled ‘Beyond sepsis awareness: Why some children still fall through the cracks.’ In it, Melissa and Akash dive into why — and how — children slip through the system when it comes to sepsis (not ignorance, but sepsis complexities exacerbated by the lack of system-wide change), the power of parental concern, the paradox of technology, and how families and healthcare staff can, and are, working together across the world.  

You can access the full article here. We would also like to congratulate Melissa and Akash for writing this piece, which is informative, accessible, and powerful.  

Please note, reading the full article requires free registration.