Family Raises Awareness and Saves Lives After Son Dies From Sepsis
On April 1, 2012, Rory Staunton, 12, died from sepsis-the leading cause of death for infants and children around the world. More than five years after his death, Rory's story continues to save lives and help other families, especially during September, which is Sepsis Awareness Month.
Just days before his passing, Rory was strong and healthy, but an uncleaned cut on his elbow from gym class in Queens, New York, caused Rory to become dangerously ill. His parents, Orlaith and Ciaran Staunton, took him to their pediatrician the day after he was injured. They showed her the scrape on his elbow, and the doctor, who noted his mottled skin, pain in his leg, and stomach tenderness, attributed the symptoms to a stomach virus.
Per the pediatrician's request, that night they took Rory to the hospital for rehydration and fluids; the ER doctor also believed Rory's issues were caused by tummy troubles. It wasn't until his pain worsened and he was admitted to the ICU the next day that the Staunton family learned how wrong the two diagnoses had been.
Bacteria had entered Rory's blood through the cut on his arm and he was in septic shock. His blood was taken immediately when he arrived at the hospital, and the laboratory had flagged it as abnormal within an hour, but because there was no system in place, doctors in the ER were not made aware of how ill he was until the family had already left the hospital.
Two days later, Rory died of septic shock. Since his passing, his family has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and improve procedures in pediatric emergency rooms so that no one else will suffer the same tragedy.
"It's just astounding," Orlaith Staunton told People. "When Rory died, I thought, 'This has to be something really rare.' Our son was 160 lbs. He was nearly 6 feet tall. I did not think there was anything that could kill him within four days that I wouldn't know about. And there was. And it's the biggest killer of children in the world."
Sepsis is "the body's overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death," according to the Sepsis Alliance. It is always triggered by an infection and affects 30 million people each year. In the United States alone, sepsis affects more than 1 million Americans annually and kills more than 258,000.
Despite how severe this illness is, Rory's parents, like many others, had never heard of sepsis. For that reason, they formed The Rory Staunton Foundation to reduce the number of sepsis-caused deaths. "Rory wouldn't sit around-he we wasn't a passive kid, he was very involved in causes and very involved with a lot of social issues," Orlaith said. "He would have wanted us to do something about this."
Thanks to the foundation, in 2013, sepsis protocols known as "Rory's Regulations" became an official directive throughout New York state. When Rory was treated, there were not proper steps in place to detect sepsis, but now, all New York hospitals have a process for screening and treatment. The new regulations have saved more than 5,000 lives and resulted in a "20 percent increase in the accurate diagnosis of sepsis patients" as of May 2017, according to the foundation's website. Illinois also adopted mandatory regulations in 2016 and other states have pledged to follow, bringing the foundation closer to its goal of seeing sepsis protocols adopted in every state by 2020.
"Sepsis was killing nearly 3.5 million people when Rory died, and the government agencies weren't doing anything about it," Ciaran Staunton said. "We organized the first series on the United States Senate on sepsis and when we met the members of the Senate, they didn't have a clue what we were talking about. Can you imagine them saying, 'Well, we never heard of that?' It was almost like, 'Are you sure?'"
The foundation has created multiple initiatives to reach its goal of increasing awareness and education around sepsis. The National Forum on Sepsis, held each year in September, brings together leaders in a variety of fields to discuss more ways to reduce sepsis. And The National Family Council on Sepsis, a volunteer network of sepsis survivors and families that have lost loved ones to sepsis, works toward lowering sepsis mortality rates by raising awareness of the causes, symptoms, and treatment of sepsis.
The Staunton family also published a children's book to educate little ones on the importance of first aid titled, Ouch! I Got a Cut!. Written by Orlaith and Rory's 16-year-old sister Kathleen, the picture book focuses on "the three C's: Cut, Clean and Cover," so that children know what to do when they're injured.
All of the good the Stauntons have done and continue to do is inspired by the person Rory was. "Rory always looked out for others, he was the kid who took the side of a bullied child, a fact attested to by his classmates," the foundation's website states. He led the campaign "Spread the Word to End the Word" to eradicate the use of the word "retard(ed)." He flew a plane, set up the award-winning Lego Robotics Team at his school, founded the debate team, served on student council, and worked to create a more environmentally friendly world. All this, and so much more, he did in just 12 years, and through his family, he continues to make a difference every day.
"There's a reward for our work in knowing that we're helping people and working to make a difference in the world, which is what Rory wanted to do and what our daughter wants to do," Orlaith said. "But there's no comfort in our grief. He's not here."
"Our son is dead. That's the headline," Ciaran told People. "We mark every calendar with what's changed. Our big boy should have started university this week. He should have graduated high school. All of these things he should have done. He should, he should have, he should have. Where would he be now? These questions will be with us until we die. This is a reoccurring pain-it's every minute of every hour of every day. And we have to stay with that. But others shouldn't have to."
(h/t People)
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