Our beautiful baby Kyra died of sepsis after nurses’ worries were ignored – my warning to parents

A MUM has told how her baby girl died from sepsis after nurses’ concerns about her condition weren’t taken seriously by hospital staff.

Kyra Ali Aslam was just four months old when she had surgery in August 2022 to reverse a stoma that was fitted shortly after her birth.

But hours after the surgery at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Kyra’s mum Lariece Greaves, 30, complained to doctors that her daughter was “not behaving” like before the operation.

The mum was told that this was likely just to do with the anaesthetic, but it was actually a sign that Kyra’s bowel had started to leak.

Nurses feared the tot may have sepsis and voiced their concerns to medical staff, but they were told a leaking bowel would be a rare complication and that doctors believed the organ just wasn’t working properly.

Sadly by the time Kyra was taken for another surgery to repair the leak, she was not stable enough to complete the operation and she died shortly after arriving in theatre.

Following her death, Lariece instructed lawyers to bring a civil case against the hospital trust.

The trust later apologised for what happened and admitted that if Kyra had received appropriate care, she would likely have survived.

Speaking about her daughter, Lariece, from Sheffield, said:  “Kyra was the most beautiful little girl with the biggest smile. 

“Losing her at the age we did and in the circumstances we did is something I will carry with me forever. When Kyra died, our world fell apart.”

Kyra had surgery to reverse her stoma on August 11 2022 and the following day Lariece noticed that she was behaving differently.

A stoma is an opening created surgically on the abdomen to allow waste (stool or urine) to leave the body when the normal route is not possible.

Just after midnight on August 12, however, Kyra started vomiting and nurses feared that she might have sepsis.

But after raising concerns about sepsis and that her bowel may be leaking to medical staff, nurses were told that this would be a rare – and thus unlikely – complication.

From there, Kyra’s condition unfortunately continued to deteriorate and she was taken to surgery the following day, on August 13, to fix the leak.

The tot was taken to the operating theatre but sadly, she died shortly after arriving there.

An inquest into Kyra’s death was carried out and a coroner issued a prevention of future deaths report in December 2023, calling on the hospital to outline what measures it would take to improve care.

The report said Lariece had been told the stoma reversal would be “much more straightforward” than the operation to create it. 

And it added that when she raised concerns about Kyra’s condition post-surgery, “insufficient weight was placed” on the mum’s fears.

The report also ruled “that insufficient weight was placed on the nursing concerns about Kyra” following her surgery. 

Speaking about the loss of her daughter, Lariece said: “As a family we’ve had to learn to live with that loss, while also trying to understand whether more could have been done to save her.

“I owed it to Kyra to keep asking questions and fighting for answers.”

The mum instructed lawyers from Irwin Mitchell to bring a civil case against the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

In the civil case, the trust initially admitted it failed to adequately obtain consent for Kyra’s stoma reversal.

It admitted there “was a failure to recognise and act upon suspected signs of sepsis and that there were missed opportunities to recognise and treat” Kyra’s suspected leaking bowel from just after midnight on 12 August.

Commenting on this, Lariece said: “The trust finally admitting failings is bittersweet. 

“While they provide the answers Kyra deserved, and that she was badly let down, I still don’t get to watch Kyra grow up and celebrate milestones in life. 

“Nothing will ever bring Kyra, but I hope sharing her story encourages people to learn more about sepsis and recognise the warning signs.

“If greater awareness helps another family avoid going through what we’ve experienced, then Kyra’s death might not have been totally in vain.”

The mum added that she will “never stop loving or missing” her daughter.

Dr Jeff Perring, executive medical director at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, told The Sun: “We are sorry for the loss of Kyra and recognise the profound impact this has had on her family.

“Over recent years we have focused on sepsis awareness, and we are continuing to make improvements, such as refining clinical guidance, championing new training and education across our organisation to help us recognise sepsis early and to treat it quickly and effectively. 

“To support this work, we have also appointed our first Sepsis Lead Nurse.

“Our thoughts remain with Kyra’s family, and while nothing can change their loss, we are committed to ensuring the learning from Kyra’s care leads to meaningful improvements for other children and families.”

Sinead Rollinson-Hayes, the expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Lariece, said: “This is a truly tragic case and one that would have been avoided if Kyra received the care she should have.”