Michael Guzman

This story was edited on January 4, 2017. The first part was submitted by Michael’s sister shortly after his death. The second part was recently submitted by his mother.

Christina Guzman (Michael’s sister):

On October 3, 2012 my 26 year old brother was diagnosed with severe sepsis eventually resulting in him losing his life 18 hours later from septic shock.

He was an amazing young man with a passion for music and an ability to make anyone smile. He loved his family and he will forever be missed! This is a tribute to my brother, Michael Lawrence Guzman.

Evangeline Guzman (Michael’s mother):

This is a tribute to my son Michael Laurence Guzman who passed away on October 4, 2012 from sepsis shock. He was 26 years old. Michael was the kind of person who always thought about making others feel better about themselves. I have to admit that as his mother, it would frustrate me sometimes because I would want him to think more about himself. As I reflect upon his memory, I realize now that there was a reason for that. He possessed a sense of humor that could cheer anyone up as well as a sense of security that many mistakenly saw as weakness, because Michael rarely worried what was popular, in style, or followed. He knew what he liked and stood by that. I just wanted to provide a very brief description of my son Michael.

Back in the end of September 2012, Michael, his sister Victoria and I were being forced to move from our home due to divorce. I remember the weather was extremely hot. We were on a time limit and had no help from anyone. Michael was lifting most of the heavy furniture into the moving truck and wound up fainting due to heat exhaustion. He was rushed to the hospital and immediately began receiving fluids intravenously. I remember driving back to the house to get a few items so I could stay the night at the hospital with Him. When I returned, Michael was waiting for me in the waiting room and said “Mom, I’m fine. I’m not staying, we have too much work to do”. Before this happened, I had never heard the term “Hospital-Acquired Infection” or “HAIs”. In my heart I do believe that this hospital visit was the beginning of the end of my son Michael’s life.

After moving everything to storage, we were forced to stay at a hotel until I could figure out where we were going to live. Both my daughter Victoria and I noticed Michael was very tired and he even complained that he was tired as well. We thought that it was because he worked so hard and fast that he felt this way, so we told Him to rest. During the move, Michael had cut the back of his ankle, and I noticed while he was resting that it looked infected, so I cleaned it with antiseptic. I ordered Michael’s favorite food, pizza, hoping it would cheer him up.

When the pizza arrived, Michael said he had no appetite and was having trouble breathing. His sister returned back to the hotel from work about that time and call an ambulance. This was October 1, 2012. When we arrived at the hospital, the medical staff did not know what was wrong with Michael. They did not know how to treat Him or what to do for him. By this time, family began arriving to the hospital. The only thing Michael was wanting was ice chips. He was beginning to say random statements and I remember on October 3, 2012, my son said to me “Mom, I’m going to die today, I don’t want to leave you.” Finally, a specialist physician determined that Michael was infected with sepsis. He flat lined and they revived him. He did not regain consciousness.

The doctor informed us that sepsis had reached his brain and that if he did regain consciousness, he would not be the same ever again. Michael did flat line again, and went to heaven early morning, October 4, 2012. Still to this day, when I am asked how my beloved son passed and I explain, sepsis is a mystery. Medical Society has the responsibility to raise awareness of this most deadly disease. When I watch television there are so many commercials supporting other illnesses yet I have never heard support for a cure for sepsis. So, I will continue to do my best to raise awareness, but it sure would be helpful and save lives if the medical profession would do more to help!

Source: Christina Guzman (Michael's sister) and Evangeline Guzman (Michael's mother)