Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare – and something nobody should have to go through.
Holly Middleton, of St Petersburg Florida, had been celebrating her little girl Scarlett’s fifth birthday at Disney Springs in July when tragedy struck.
Scarlett had a princess makeover at her birthday celebrations and dressed up as Ariel.
"Little did we know she was practicing that day to be a princess in heaven a few days later," mum Holly wrote on website Love What Matters .
After the family came home from their day trip, Scarlett vomited and had a bit of a fever.
On day two, Holly took her to the doctor and she was "so lethargic" she actually had to carry her little girl in to the office.
They were sent home with some medication and told it was a stomach virus – just 20 hours later, Scarlett passed away.
Holly said: "I called the ambulance when I thought something wasn’t right. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Thankfully, I was with her."
Hospital staff tried to save Scarlett, but tragically they couldn’t revive her.
It turned out that Scarlett had sepsis, a serious complication of an infection which can be deadly if left untreated.
"We don’t know how she got it or why it affected her so rapidly," Holly added.
Scarlett’s mum was left heartbroken at losing her daughter, who she described as "sweet" and her "sunshine".
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Holly has since started a charity in Scarlett’s honour with a really sweet cause: to bring happiness and sunshine into people’s lives.
Scarlett’s Sunshine has raised funds via a Go Fund Me page to give out hundreds of bouquets of flowers to strangers.
Holly wrote on Facebook that the charity now has "funds to last us about 5 years giving out 200 flowers a week."
Symptoms of sepsis can be found here .
Sepsis: The facts
■ Sepsis affects 250,000 people in the UK and kills 44,000 per year. That’s more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer and road accidents combined.
■ Sepsis is the body’s often deadly response to an infection.
■ Initially, it can look like flu or a chest infection, but it can swiftly get serious.
■ Seek medical help urgently if you develop any one of the following…
– are lethargic or difficult to wake
– feel abnormally cold to touch
– the skin looks mottled, bluish or pale
– are breathing very fast
– have a rash that does not fade when you press it
– have a fit or convulsion
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