‘MY DAUGHTER CAUGHT SEPSIS FROM SHOE’
AGIRL of four caught lifethreatening sepsis from trying on new shoes in a shop, according to doctors who treated the youngster.
Sienna Rasul fell seriously ill the day after putting on different sizes in her bare feet.
Her worried mum said doctors diagnosed sepsis from bacteria in the shoes on display racks at the shoe shops she visited.
The frightening case has now raised health concerns and prompted a warning for parents doing backto-school shopping.
Brave Sienna spent five days on a drip in hospital with her mum Jodie Thomas, 26, keeping a bedside vigil.
Hotel worker Jodie said: “I was really shocked when the doctors said it was from trying on new shoes.
“I’ve been worried sick, they’ve had to drain all the poison from her leg.”
Sienna was wearing sandals when she was taken to Cardiff on a shopping trip for new shoes.
Jodie said: “Normally she would have socks on, but it’s summer time so she was wearing sandals. The shoes she liked had been tried on by other little girls and that’s how Sienna picked up the infection.”
Mum-of-three Jodie took Sienna to the doctors when she started crying in agony the day after the shopping trip.
The doctor spotted the infection and used a pen to draw a line around where the infection had spread.
Jodie, of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, said: “By the next day it had spread up her leg and her temperature was raging.
“I drove her straight in to hospital, she was shaking and twitching – it was horrible to see my little girl like that. They said it was sepsis and thought they would have to operate.
“But the doctors have managed to drain all the pus from her leg and say the antibiotic drip will do the job.”
Sienna has now been allowed home from the children’s ward at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, but she is still being monitored.
Jodie yesterday urged parents to make sure their children have socks on when they are trying on shoes.
She said: “I knew you risk getting things like athlete’s foot from trying on shoes but blood poisoning is far more serious. You don’t know whose feet have been in the shoes before you.
“Sienna has been really ill, the infection was moving up her leg and spreading to the rest of her body. I’m so glad I got her to the hospital quickly.
“With mums and dads doing backto-school shopping I would advise them to take a spare pair of socks with them.”
Ron Daniels, Chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust said: “This frightening case shows us that sepsis strikes indiscriminately and can affect anyone at any time.”
Dr Daniels, one of the world’s leading experts on the killer illness, said it was likely Sienna already had a “breach” in her skin, either a graze or a bite.
He added: “Whenever there are signs of infection, it’s crucial that members of the public seek medical attention urgently and just ask: “Could it be sepsis?”
“Better awareness could save thousands of lives every year.”