Mother Loses 2-Year-Old Daughter to Sepsis After Misdiagnosing Common Symptoms

The tragic death of two-year-old Lieke, whose parents Joëlle and Meran shared their story via LINDA.nl, highlights the critical challenges in diagnosing sepsis in young children. The family noted that the initial symptoms of the condition closely resembled those of common childhood illnesses, complicating early detection.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s response to an infection damages its own tissues. Because the early signs can be non-specific, This proves often misdiagnosed as a routine respiratory or viral infection, leading to delays in the administration of life-saving treatment.

The Challenge of Early Detection in Pediatrics

The experience of Lieke’s parents underscores a recurring theme in pediatric sepsis cases: the overlap between sepsis indicators and common childhood ailments. When symptoms appear as general illness, parents and clinicians may not immediately suspect a systemic inflammatory response.

This pattern is reflected in other reported cases of pediatric sepsis. For instance, Clover Harrold, a nine-month-old who died from sepsis in 2017, initially presented with a fever that her parents attributed to daycare-related sickness. Despite signs such as a high heart rate and mottling of the skin, she was initially discharged from an emergency department with a diagnosis of an upper respiratory infection.

Similarly, Marcie Tadman, a toddler who died in December 2017, was initially diagnosed with an upper respiratory tract infection and later a chest infection or bacterial pneumonia. In that case, a doctor later apologized for failing to use a sepsis screening tool, stating that her judgment based on the child’s appearance led her to overlook the possibility of sepsis.

Clinical Missteps and Systemic Failures

Medical errors and the failure to utilize standardized screening tools have been central to several high-profile sepsis fatalities. In the case of Selina Samarina, a two-year-old girl with Down’s syndrome who died from sepsis in April 2025, her parents accused Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, of a catalogue of errors. They claimed a very junior doctor sent her home with instructions to use Calpol rather than diagnosing the underlying sepsis.

The failure to identify sepsis often stems from a reliance on clinical intuition over objective screening protocols. In the case of Marcie Tadman, the physician involved admitted during an Avon Coroner’s Court inquest that she did not use a sepsis screening tool, relying instead on her own judgment of the patient’s symptoms.

Public Awareness and Advocacy

Due to the difficulty of early diagnosis, advocates emphasize the importance of public awareness. Allison Harrold, a nurse and mother of Clover Harrold, promotes excellence in sepsis care through the Clover Award, which recognizes hospital staff who display high standards in treating the condition.

The common thread across these accounts is the danger of dismissing “common” symptoms when a child’s condition does not improve or worsens rapidly. Key indicators that have appeared in these cases include:

• Fevers that do not respond to medication such as Tylenol, Motrin, or Calpol.
• Extreme irritability or a refusal to be put down.
• Lethargy, listlessness, or eyes rolling back.
• Refusal to take fluids or breastfeed.
• Physical signs such as mottling of the skin and a persistently high heart rate.

The stories of Lieke, Clover, Marcie, and Selina serve as warnings about the necessity of urgent medical intervention and the critical role of sepsis-specific screening in emergency departments to prevent misdiagnosis and avoidable loss of life.