[null, {"document_url": "https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/people/story/mother-awareness-about-sepsis-sons-death-william-melissa-mead-lifest-341395-2016-09-16", "unformatted_src": "https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/indiatoday/../sites/all/themes/itg/images/itg_image370x208.jpg", "src": "https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/indiatoday/../sites/all/themes/itg/images/itg_image370x208.jpg", "formatted_filename": "itg image", "alt_text": " ", "rendered_width": 200, "rendered_height": 200}, {"document_url": "https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/people/story/mother-awareness-about-sepsis-sons-death-william-melissa-mead-lifest-341395-2016-09-16", "unformatted_src": "https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/indiatoday/images/story/201609/sepsisstory_647_091616122641.jpg", "src": "https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/indiatoday/images/story/201609/sepsisstory_647_091616122641.jpg", "formatted_filename": "sepsisstory", "alt_text": "Melissa Mead. Picture courtesy: Facebook/Melissa Mead"}, null]

This mother is trying to raise awareness about sepsis after losing her son to it

So that no other mom loses her son to an illness we all end up taking a little too lightly. Melissa Mead. Picture courtesy: Facebook/Melissa Mead

Imagine someone you love having a tiny infection, and without you even realising it, losing them to it.

That's what happened to this mom from UK, who lost her son to sepsis. Now, she's doing everything she can to tell people about the life-threatening illness that most of us end up taking a little too lightly.

For the uninitiated, sepsis is a life-threatening illness caused by your body's response to an infection. Your immune system protects you from many illnesses and infections, but it's also possible for it to go into overdrive in response to an infection, according to healthline.com.

Sepsis develops when the chemicals the immune system, released into the bloodstream to fight an infection, cause inflammation throughout the entire body instead. Severe cases of sepsis can lead to septic shock, which is a medical emergency.

This mother, Melissa Mead from Cornwall, UK, posted a video on her Facebook account recently, in which she's seen holding hand-written cards that recite her heart-wrenching story; and she's done this as part of a JustGiving campaign to raise money for the UK Sepsis Trust.

"Hi all, if you haven't shared my video yet or even if you have, please share. I can't quite believe the number of people who've viewed it. Including those that have viewed it via shares as well it's approaching 24 million, I still can't quite believe it. We've received nearly 20,000 in donations too. Please, please if you can, share my original post below. Thank you so so much for being part of Williams legacy," reads Melissa's recent Facebook post. Here's her video:

Melissa Mead's son, William, suffered from sepsis after suffering a chest infection and pneumonia. She has now started a blog called A Mother Without a Child about the journey she's been on William's been gone.



