Prince Foote

In Honor of Pediatric Sepsis Awareness Week 4/21/19-4/27/19 we are sharing Prince Foote story, in hopes of bringing light and awareness to pediatric sepsis shock . 75,000 children develop sepsis each year.  Can you spot the signs and know the importance of T.I.M.E?

At 3:11pm on 12/16/17, 2-year-old Prince woke up from a nap he took with his siblings every weekend while my mom cleaned. He went for a drink of his sippy cup off the kitchen counter and as he reached for it he somehow knocked over the bucket of boiling water his mom was mopping with. She had her back turned mopping and heard the splash and Prince cry for help . She quickly grabbed him up and put him in the sink with cold water as she called for his aunt to call his father from work or 911 to go to the hospital . His dad arrived in 10 minutes to take him.

They arrived at A.I DuPont hospital in Wilmington Delaware at 3:30 and was rushed back to a exam room where 6 different teams came and tried to start a IV in Prince’s arm and hand while his dad soothed him and his mom explained to doctors the accident that happened. 3 different doctors were in contact with Prince and his family during his visit, saying he had a 2nd degree burn and needed a IV so they could treat him with pain medicine for his burn. Doctors also decided since Delaware has NO burn unit/center, the best option for Prince was to come back every 3 days to get his dressings changed that they put on. They prescribed him pain medicine for his burn and said to give it to him every 4-6 hours . Doctors informed his parents he would get a fever from being burned and to give him medicine from home every 3-6 hours alternating. He was then shortly released at 5:30 pm.

Prince went home and was fine. He wanted to show everybody his bandaid from his IV so he and his family went to bed. A few hours into the night, his parents checked on him and he had a fever so, as instructed, they gave him medicine and it went away . Throughout the day Sunday 12/17/17, Prince would get a fever get his medicine and it would go away. He just wanted to eat, play with his siblings, watch TV and rest.

Sunday evening Prince started to vomit and have diarrhea. So On Monday 12/18/17, his mother called A.I DuPont Hospital to schedule his burn dressing change for that Tuesday as instructed and she also mentioned he started to vomit and have diarrhea. They scheduled his appointment and told her to call his pediatrician. She called Nemours Children’s Clinic and asked for more fever medicine to treat his fever and for advice about his new symptoms. A nurse called her back and told her the prescription was called in and to give Prince fluids, Pedialyte, and rest and to call back if he gets worse. She did as she was told and they took a nap .

Around 5:30pm Prince’s father and sisters came home from work and school, so his mother got up to go cook dinner  Around 6pm she went to check on Prince and his baby brother because she thought they should be up from their nap. She found Prince unresponsive and tried to do CPR as she screamed for help. His sister, father and neighbors came to her aide and they drove him to Wilmington hospital to get the fastest help. Doctors worked for 30 mins to try and revive Prince while his parents explained what happened but doctors told them his heart had stopped beating .

It took seven long months for his parents to receive his autopsy and learn that his precious life was cut short from staphylococcus aureus septicemia. (Sepsis and Bacterial Infections) When bacteria entered Prince body and blood stream, his organs and immune system attacked itself to try and fight the infection. Prince had contact with a health facility where staph infection lingers. (Sepsis and Healthcare Acquired Infections) He had a fever, he begin to vomit and have diarrhea, and wanted to rest. When his mother mentioned his symptoms THOSE were the SIGNS of septic shock. That was the time frame to fight this deadly infection because time is of the essence .

Early detection is the best hope to survive and limit disabilities when sepsis is present. KNOW the SIGNS , EVERY MINUTE COUNTS. It’s about T.I.M.E (Temperature: higher or lower than normal, Infection: May have many symptoms, Extremely ill: severe pain or discomfort.) If you or someone has signs of infection or sepsis PLEASE make a good choice and get help immediately and mention your “worried about sepsis”. You can get an infection from anything , sore throat, toothache, ear infection, UTI, cut, scrape, c-section, surgery, tattoos, etc. So please EDUCATE yourself and the world so what happened with Prince & his family doesn’t have to happen again. Even though there is no cure right now, sepsis could have been prevented .

#PrinceFoote
#PediatricSepsisAwarenessWeek
#BudWillHelpOthers
#BornPrinceRaisedKingBudtoyou

(You can share Prince’s story in hopes to EDUCATE the world about sepsis. Thank you???)

Source: Shantelle Hunter (Mother)