A Maryland mother who lost her son to sepsis is now fighting for stronger hospital protocols, as the cruel disease continues to kill one American every 90 seconds.
Lochlin DeSantis was just five years old in January 2020 when he contracted the flu. But what is normally a relatively harmless illness turned into a much more sinister illness.
Two days after the onset of the sore throat and fever, he could no longer walk; Moving his legs was strangely painful.
Just one day later, Lochlin began to lose consciousness, causing him to frantically rush to the local hospital.
Devastatingly, Lochlin, who his mother described as an “old soul”, died within 12 hours.
Brooke DeSantis described her son, Lochlin (middle) as an “old soul” who loved giving food to the homeless and longed to volunteer.
Lochlin came down with the flu on a Friday and quickly took a turn for the worse. On Monday she suffered organ failure and died at just five years old.
The boy’s body was attacked by sepsis, an extreme overreaction of the immune system that is responsible for one in three hospital deaths and has been called a “silent killer.”
“My mission now is to see that people have access to anything to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and keep their family safe,” Lochlin’s mother, Brooke DeSantis, a nurse, told DailyMail.com.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t do that with ours.”
Sepsis is a medical emergency caused by the body’s extreme reaction to an infection. It occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream cause the immune system to go crazy.
Instead of sending infection-fighting white blood cells to attack a foreign invader, it targets healthy tissues and organs such as the extremities, lungs, and kidneys.
Infections that cause sepsis usually begin in the skin, the urinary or respiratory tract, the lungs, or the digestive system, but almost any infection can cause sepsis, starting in wounds as innocuous as paper cuts.
According to the charity Sepsis Alliance, half of all cases are due to an unknown pathogen.
‘He loved football and family, his friends, hockey. He was one of the kindest kids I’ve ever met,” Lochlin’s mother, Brooke DeSantis, told DailyMail.com.
Mrs. DeSantis is now working to raise awareness about sepsis and increase access to vaccines like the flu shot to prevent the disease.
Mrs. DeSantis said that even though Lochlin’s emergency room doctor assured her that her symptoms were normal for the flu, a nagging feeling in the back of her mind gave her pause.
‘Although I felt I shouldn’t have listened to (the doctor’s) advice, I trusted him. I trusted that I should go home,” he said. And that’s exactly what I did. He was a more licensed medical professional than me, so I took his advice and took Lochlin home.
“And that was probably the worst thing that could have happened.”
Sepsis affects 1.7 million Americans each year, according to the CDC.
Each year, 350,000 Americans die from sepsis, or one every 90 seconds.
Sepsis Alliance estimates that 75,000 American children develop sepsis each year, approximately 200 per day. This includes more than 5,000 deaths, or 18 each day.
It is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals, according to the Sepsis Alliance, causing 35 percent of hospital deaths. However, 34 percent of Americans have never heard of it.
Certain groups are more susceptible to the condition, including adults over 65 years of age, children under one year of age, patients with weakened immune systems, and those who have had sepsis in the past. However, anyone can achieve it.
There is no single test, but doctors look for signs of infection with measures such as blood tests. Sepsis can progress to septic shock, which is characterized by a severe drop in blood pressure.
Signs of septic shock, according to the Mayo Clinic, include not being able to stand, extreme fatigue or not being able to stay awake, and a significant change in mental status.
Signs of sepsis closely resemble those of the flu, making it extremely difficult to detect in time
Data from JAMA and the CDC have found that sepsis is on the rise and most US hospitals do not have a specific protocol.
For every hour treatment is delayed, the chance of death increases by four to nine percent.
Ms. DeSantis said many of these deaths could be because few doctors recognize the symptoms, which can closely resemble those of the flu. This makes it extremely difficult to detect it in time.
“This changes very quickly and that is the problem,” he said. ‘Lochlin was tested for flu and it was positive, but the main reason why he was there is because they didn’t communicate about it. It all comes down to dismissing the patient and not treating him for the cause of why he was there.’
“And with that, many doctors, because they have to see so many patients in a period of time, review them hurriedly and miss the real signs they should be looking for.”
‘That’s where I wanted to see that change, not just for one location or one hospital but for the entire state because when you come in as a patient or as a loved one caring for a patient, you want to see that all the answers are there.’
Sepsis Alliance has also found that cases are increasing, which could be due in part to a lack of consistent care.
The United States does not have a national sepsis protocol and CDC data from 2023 found that more than 1,400 hospitals (about a quarter) in the U.S. do not have a sepsis program.
“Doctors are not given enough information to help them diagnose sepsis,” Dr. Steven Simpson, a professor of medicine at the University of Kansas and president of the Sepsis Alliance, previously told DailyMail.com.
‘There is no catchy phrase to help doctors and hospitals stay vigilant, as they have done in other countries.
‘Every hospital in the country should have a sepsis committee, a sepsis quality improvement program and organize their facilities so that they are prepared to detect and treat sepsis. Currently, this is not the case at all.”
After Lochlin’s death, Mrs. DeSantis and her husband, William, established the charity Love for Lochlin, which aims to raise awareness and provide education about sepsis to medical professionals and community members.
One of his biggest victories is the passage of the Lochlin Law in Maryland. Under the legislation, beginning January 1, 2025, each hospital and urgent care center in the state will be required to “implement an evidence-based protocol for the early recognition and treatment of a patient with sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock who is based on generally acceptable standards of care.’
It will also involve ‘requiring a specialized psychiatric hospital to establish a certain process; and require hospitals and urgent care centers to require periodic training in implementing the protocol for certain staff.
Mrs. DeSantis and her husband, William, founded Love for Lochlin, which raises awareness about sepsis and provides education to community members and physicians.
“It’s about seeing that they have access to what we couldn’t get for our son,” Mrs. DeSantis said. ‘Every person we help, that’s how Lochlin’s love and the memory of him survives with us all.’
“So if a patient comes in and their vital signs are outside of range two out of three, they’re automatically going to have to do more testing to rule out sepsis,” Ms. DeSantis said.
“Or so that, if they have it, they are immediately transported to the hospital, not themselves, but a medical unit is transporting them there.”
Lochlin’s law will be signed by Maryland Governor Wes Moore on May 16 and will go into effect on October 1.
Ms. DeSantis noted that the legislation is the first of its kind, as some other state regulations, such as the Rory Regulations in New York, only address hospitals and adult patients.
Lochlin’s Law will include hospitals, urgent care centers and specialized care facilities such as nursing homes and detox facilities. It also applies to children.
Love for Lochlin is also working to increase access to flu vaccines to prevent the disease from progressing to sepsis.
“It’s about seeing that they have access to what we couldn’t get for our son,” Mrs. DeSantis said. “Every person we help, that’s how Lochlin’s love and her memory lives on with us all.”
“It’s a people who are fighting right now, not just us.”