The video that ‘saved my daughter’s life’: Mother tells how she showed doctors a 20-second clip of her five-year-old to prove she had signs of sepsis
- Jade Rodford’s baby Ella Erangey developed shallow breathing in 2014
- Symptoms only came on at home and mysteriously vanished at hospital
- Video reportedly persuaded doctors to take Ella’s condition seriously
- The clip showed Ella’s pot-marked, purple skin and shallow breathing
The mother of a sepsis survivor has released a video she wants every parent to watch.
Jade Rodford claims her now five-year-old daughter Ella Erangey developed shallow breathing and blotchy skin in November 2014.
However, her symptoms only came on at home and mysteriously vanished when she was taken to hospital. But doctors dismissed it as just a cold.
Miss Rodford therefore recorded a 20-second clip of Ella’s pot-marked, purple skin, which she later showed to medics at hospital.
The 30-year-old claims it was only then that medics took her daughter’s condition seriously, with her later being diagnosed with sepsis and spending 12 days in hospital.
Now fully recovered, Miss Rodford, of Gravesend, Kent, credits that video for ‘saving Ella’s life’ by demonstrating the ‘full extent of what was going on’.
Ella Erangey, now five, was diagnosed with sepsis in November 2014 after repeatedly being turned away by doctors. She is pictured left in hospital wearing a bandage so she did not knock out the cannula that administered her IV drugs. Her mother Jade Rodford (pictured right recently with Ella, her partner Sean Erangey and their son nine-year-old Harry) was forced to videotape her daughter to persuade medics to take her condition seriously
Speaking of the video, Miss Rodford, who is also mother to nine-year-old Harry, said: ‘[It] saved her life, 100 per cent. I had an instinct something wasn’t right.
‘Without that video I was just coming into hospital with a normal child with a high temperature.
‘But the video showed the full extent of what was going on and how serious it was. If I hadn’t taken the video they would have sent me home and Ella wouldn’t be here.’
Miss Rodford, who shares her children with her partner Sean Erangey, 30, claims Ella had been under the weather for a few days before things suddenly took a dramatic turn for the worse.
‘Ella had a few colds one after the other, she’d been unwell for a while,’ Miss Rodford said. ‘I took her to the GP who said she seemed fine.’
Miss Rodford, a legal secretary, later dropped Ella off at her mother’s who rang her back just five minutes later.
‘My mum called me and said you need to come home, Ella can’t breathe and has turned blue,’ Miss Rodford said.
‘Luckily I was nearby but when I got home she looked terrible. Her temperature was really high.’
Pictured while battling sepsis in hospital, Ella had to be hooked up to IV drugs. Miss Rodford (pictured on the right recently with her family) credits the video for ‘saving Ella’s life’
Despite going back and forth to hospital, Miss Rodford claims Ella only showed signs of being unwell when she was at home.
The mother-of-two therefore decided to record a clip of her daughter that showed her pot-marked, purple skin.
She later rang the non-emergency NHS number 111. The operator reportedly said Ella’s condition did not warrant an ambulance being sent round but the youngster should be brought to A&E.
‘I felt like I was wasting their time,’ Miss Rodford said. ‘I took her in and medics and the doctor said she had had some seizures.’
However, hospital staff quickly realised how serious the situation was when Miss Rodford showed them the video.
‘As soon as they saw the medics decided to take her in,’ she said. ‘The video showed her shallow breathing and the purple, red and white skin, mottle skin.’
Ella struggled to breathe and developed purple, blotchy skin. However, her symptoms were only apparent at home and mysteriously vanished at hospital. This led doctors to believe her condition was not serious until Miss Rodford showed them ‘what was going on’
Miss Rodford (pictured with her family) claims Ella ‘wouldn’t be here’ without the video
Pictured is a screen grab from the video, which shows a fatigued Ella with blotchy cheeks
After medics saw the video, Ella was rushed into a treatment suite and diagnosed with sepsis a few hours later.
The youngster was then hooked up to IV drugs and endured a nearly two-week stay in hospital.
‘She was okay, she gradually got her strength back but it was very, very scary,’ Miss Rodford said.
She is releasing the video to show other parents the signs of sepsis.
‘I came across it recently and just thought “every parent should see this”,’ Miss Rodford said.
‘I knew something was wrong with my daughter but I didn’t know what. Hopefully some good can come out of something horrendous happening to my daughter.
‘If I hadn’t taken that video there’s no way Ella would be here.’
WHAT IS SEPSIS?
Sepsis occurs when the body reacts to an infection by attacking its own organs and tissues.
Some 44,000 people die from sepsis every year in the UK. Worldwide, someone dies from the condition every 3.5 seconds.
Sepsis has similar symptoms to flu, gastroenteritis and a chest infection.
These include:
- Slurred speech or confusion
- Extreme shivering or muscle pain
- Passing no urine in a day
- Severe breathlessness
- It feels like you are dying
- Skin mottled or discoloured
Symptoms in children are:
- Fast breathing
- Fits or convulsions
- Mottled, bluish or pale skin
- Rashes that do not fade when pressed
- Lethargy
- Feeling abnormally cold
Under fives may be vomiting repeatedly, not feeding or not urinating for 12 hours.
Anyone can develop sepsis but it is most common in people who have recently had surgery, have a urinary catheter or have stayed in hospital for a long time.
Other at-risk people include those with weak immune systems, chemotherapy patients, pregnant women, the elderly and the very young.
Treatment varies depending on the site of the infection but involves antibiotics, IV fluids and oxygen, if necessary.
Source: UK Sepsis Trust and NHS Choices
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