When five-year-old Cathy Kassis got sick last winter, her parents, Jazz and Justin, initially thought it was just a cold and a runny nose.
When their little girl’s condition worsened, they thought it was croup, which she had had before, and took their normally cheerful daughter to her GP.
She was prescribed prednisone for the croup, but still no improvement and another visit to the doctor didn’t change anything either.
Then one night Cathy was struggling to breathe and her parents rushed her to the emergency department at Bathurst Base Hospital, near their home in the Central Tablelands, New South Wales.
Heartbreaking footage filmed by her mother to show doctors captured the distraught little girl gasping for breath.
Two days later, Cathy suffered a cardiac arrest at home and was flown to Sydney, where she was declared brain dead the following day.
A year later, her parents regret asking the question that could have saved Cathy’s life: does she have sepsis?
“They took her in for an exam, but the doctor had to leave in the middle of the exam to go do a (CPR) and she put us back in the waiting room and said they would bring us back,” Ms. Kassis said. A current issue.
When five-year-old Cathy Kassis (pictured) fell ill in the winter of 2023, her parents at first thought it was just a cold and a sniffle, but the next two weeks would tear the family apart.
‘And then about an hour went by and they came back out and said they had spoken to the pediatrician and they had told him to just continue with Panadol, Nurofen and whatever we were doing.
“So the pediatrician never really got to see what was going on.”
Cathy’s parents brought their very sick daughter home, unaware that she had no diagnosis. Sepsis, caused by Streptococcus A.
Sepsis, often called blood poisoning, occurs when the body’s response to an infection damages vital organs.
It can be lethal and in Cathy’s case it was.
Two days later, the five-year-old girl went into cardiac arrest at home and her father performed CPR while they waited for an ambulance.
Cathy’s three siblings watched everything unfold before them in the family’s living room.
She was flown to Westmead Children’s Hospital in western Sydney (180 kilometres away) where she underwent urgent tests.
But the diagnosis and treatment she eventually received came too late, and Cathy was declared brain dead the next day.
More than a year after the trauma and heartbreak, her parents are still searching for answers.
They are calling for changes to the system to ensure that those who show symptoms are automatically tested for sepsis.
Jazz Kassis (pictured) said “the pediatrician never actually looked at her or noticed what was going on.”
The couple’s request to the parents is to ask the doctors a simple question, but one that could save their lives: is it sepsis?
“As a parent, you know your child better than anyone else, so you know when something isn’t right,” Ms. Kassis said.
Her husband added: ‘They didn’t test her for anything, not for strep A or any bacterial infection or anything like that.
“I think they need to be looked at and studied more closely, because I think (sepsis testing) was warranted. No one is destined to outlive their children.”
In the depths of their grief, the Kassis agreed to have Cathy’s liver and both kidneys donated to save the lives of three other children.
They do not know who obtained Cathy’s organs, but have given permission for the families to contact them if they wish.
“I would love to meet them, because they have a piece of her inside them,” Kassis said.
He said the decision to donate Cathy’s organs “was difficult, but it was an instant yes.”
‘Our worst day made someone else’s day the best day of their life… getting that phone call saying their child was going to live.’
In a statement, the Western NSW Local Health District, which includes Bathurst Base Hospital, said it extended “our sincere and deepest condolences to the loved ones of Cathy Kassis and recognises the profound impact her death has had on her family and the community.”
He said the health authority had provided Cathy’s family with “support and information, including the findings of a serious adverse event review”.
‘We review all cases where there was an unexpected outcome to identify opportunities to improve patient care and safety.
‘The death of Cathy Kassis has been reported to the coroner.’
Jazz Kassis (left) is pictured with her daughters Cathy (center) and Isabella (right)
One night Cathy was unable to breathe and her parents rushed her to the emergency department at Bathurst Base Hospital (pictured).
The health district’s statement also said the Clinical Excellence Commission reviewed the Sepsis Pathways this year.
‘These have been promoted across (the Western NSW Local Health District) to help clinicians identify risk factors, signs and symptoms of sepsis, refer them to a senior clinician and commence treatment quickly.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the health district for further comment.