A MUM-of-two has told how her baby daughter survived sepsis and meningitis – after the youngster’s twin sister tragically died during pregnancy.
Charlotte Carpenter, 21, was distraught as tiny Elli-Grace Wainwright, then just six weeks old, turned grey and was rushed to the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
Medics discovered that the tot had both sepsis and meningitis, and her parents were warned that she may not survive.
This was especially difficult as Elli-Grace’s identical twin sister, Evie-Mae, had died during pregnancy.
But Elli-Grace managed to pull through and was discharged from the Royal Stoke three weeks later.
Now Charlotte wants to make all parents aware of the symptoms of sepsis and meningitis so they know what to look for.
Concerned Charlotte said she insisted that paramedics took her daughter to A&E on April 4 last year.
Charlotte, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, said: “I got up in the morning at about 9.30am and noticed Elli was still in bed so I went and asked her dad why she wasn’t up yet and he said she wouldn’t feed.
“I went back to check on her and she was unable to support her own head and she had a temperature of 38.7°C. If I touched her she would scream in pain and she wouldn’t feed or drink.
“I called 111 because she was turning grey and I didn’t know what to do, but while I was on the phone she stopped breathing and her dad had to perform CPR.
“The paramedics came out, but when they got here they said she was fine, but we said that we’d like a second opinion.
“We got to hospital at 12.30pm and within five minutes Elli was put on oxygen. She had her eyes closed, she wasn’t waking up and she still looked grey.
“I was breaking down crying, I didn’t know what to do, I was panicking. They started giving her some antibiotics and she was moved from the Children’s Assessment Unit (CAU) to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) at around 7pm that night.
“There were about 15 doctors and nurses all around her and I was screaming asking them to help my daughter.”
Charlotte stayed at the hospital with Elli-Grace while her 21-year-old fiancé, Bradley Wainwright, stayed at home with their son, Tommy Wainwright.
Elli-Grace was then transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, in Liverpool, to undergo an operation to fit a broviac line after spending two weeks on the HDU.
Elli-Grace was discharged from both hospitals on April 21.
Charlotte said Elli-Grace has a weak immune system as while she was pregnant with her identical twins she underwent laser ablation surgery because one foetus was getting more nutrients than the other.
However the operation was unsuccessful, resulting in the Evie’Mae’s death and Elli-Grace being born prematurely at 36 weeks.
Charlotte said doctors told her it was likely that Elli-Grace contracted meningitis due to her weak immune system which then developed into sepsis.
Bradley said that when Charlotte went to the hospital with their daughter he was expecting them to be back home by the afternoon.
Bradley, a warehouse operative, said: “I was expecting them both to be back in three hours but it ended up being three weeks.
“I was shocked and scared, but I’m happy she’s OK now and back to her normal self.”
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