'My daughter ended up in a coma after tummy bug symptoms'

A mum whose daughter was put on life support after initially suffering symptoms of a stomach bug has warned of the dangers of sepsis - as the teenager recovered from a coma to take her first steps.

Natalie-Anne Rowlett, 40, said her 13-year-old daughter Felicity-Jo was left in the coma for two weeks after undiagnosed congenital scarring in her bowel led her to develop severe complications.

Felicity-Jo first first went to hospital in February with sickness and abdominal pain and was discharged the next day - but later went into septic shock and intensive care a month later.

"Sepsis develops so quickly and I want others to be aware. I know she'll come through. She's a fighter," Natalie-Anne said.

Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection which happens when your immune system overreacts and starts to damage your body's own tissues and organs, according to the NHS.

Felicity-Jo, from Nelson, in Lancashire, was first sent to Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital in early February after suffering vomiting and severe abdominal cramps and attended urgent care on the advice on NHS 111 staff.

Natalie-Anne said she was "concerned" but said doctors had at first suspected her daughter may have gastroenteritis, and she went on to feel better.

"They give her some fluids to stop the dehydration and she seemed to like come around and seemed to feel better - the pain eased and then she took to small sips of water," she said.

"The doctors said they thought it was gastroenteritis or a stomach bug going around.

"They had said they wanted to take her for a scan but they didn't do it because she perked up."

Natalie-Anne said her daughter was then discharged the next day, and a few days later Felicity-Jo seemed her usual self and was well enough to take to the stage in a performance of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Yet just one month later, Felicity-Jo was taken into intensive care after collapsing in pain on 15 March.

"We had been having dinner the night before and she had wolfed it down," Natalie-Anne said.

"But later she woke up in pain and was rolling about on the floor and she was screaming. It was really really painful."

When Felicity-Jo arrived at Burnley General Teaching Hospital, it was discovered that she had been born with congenital scar tissue in her bowel known as adhesions.

In some cases, adhesions can be symptomless or cause mild discomfort, but for others, symptoms can be life-threatening, according to Guts UK Charity.

For Felicity-Jo the adhesions caused her to develop a bowel obstruction, leading to severe abdominal discomfort and infection leading to sepsis, according to Natalie-Anne.

Felicity-Jo was taken to Blackburn Hospital, where she had to be resuscitated ahead of an emergency surgery on her bowel.

She was then taken to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, where she was immediately admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit.

"I was terrified," Natalie-Anne said.

"I didn't take my eyes off her once in the ambulance. My first instinct was is she goning to die?

"I've never seen anything like it."

Felicity-Jo has since had two emergency surgeries on her bowel, including having some removed.

She was put into an induced coma and was kept on life support for two weeks.

"We describe her as like a total tornado whirlwind, she's never still and she's the strongest one out of all the family," Natalie-Anne said.

"She has had congenital glaucoma since birth and so she is partially-sighted.

"She's just a trooper. So brave and nothing seems to faze her. She'll just tackle it head on.

"It was really, really difficult seeing her like that.

"We just noticed this big hollow silence and thought 'we want her back'."

Four weeks later and Felicity-Jo remains in intensive care, having had a stoma bag fitted and being diagnosed with two blood clots.

She will now be on blood thinners for life and it remains unclear when she will be able to come home.

But despite a long road ahead, Felicity-Jo has been able to talk again and has taken her first steps in almost a month.

"She is very week but she hasn't lost that spirit," Natalie-Anne said.

Now Natalie-Anne wants others to "trust their guts" when something "doesn't feel right" and to be aware of the symptoms of sepsis.

"I'm not a doctor but I felt it wasn't right," she said.

"You know your own child. And I had wondered if there was something else wrong. We didn't know about the scar tissue or the blockage.

"I know she'll come through it - she's a warrior."

She urged anyone with worries to view the information on the NHS website.

Symptoms can include:

• Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
• Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue
• A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it
• Difficulty breathing

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