A worried mum saved her daughter's life with a simple 20-second video that showed doctors she had symptoms of deadly sepsis.
Jade Rodford, 30, said doctors thought that her baby daughter Ella, now 5, had a severe cold when she fell ill in 2014.
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But Jade felt it was more than that and sensed that there was something seriously wrong, so she decided to record a 20-second clip of her daughter which showed all the signs of deadly sepsis.
Sepsis is a deadly condition in which the body's immune system produces an overactive and toxic response to an infection. It affects 25,000 children each year in the UK.
"The video saved her life, 100 per cent. I had an instinct that something wasn't right," said Jade, a mum-of-two from Gravesend, Kent.
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"Without that video I was just coming into hospital with a normal child with a high temperature.
"But the video showed the full extent of what was going on and how serious it was.
"If I hadn't taken the video they would have sent me home and Ella wouldn't be here."
Jade said Ella had been ill for a number of days before her condition began to deteriorate.
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"Ella had a few colds one after the other, she'd been unwell for a while," Jade explained. "I took her to the GP who said she seemed fine. I dropped her at my mum's.
"After five minutes my mum called me and said you need to come home, Ella can't breathe and has turned blue. Luckily I was nearby but when I got home she looked terrible. Her temperature was really high."
Despite taking her to hospital, Ella only seemed to show the symptoms of the condition when she was at home, so quick-thinking Jade decided to take a quick clip of which showed her skin turning pot-marked and purple.
Jade was convinced that something was wrong because Ella didn't seem normal, but when she called 111, she was told she didn't need an ambulance and that she should bring Ella to A&E instead.
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"I felt like I was wasting their time," Jade said. "I took her in and medics and the doctor said she had had some seizures."
But everything changed once Jade showed doctors her video of Ella.
"I took a video and said 'Can I show you this?' A doctor saw the video with three of her colleagues," she explained. "As soon as they saw that the medics decided to take her in. The video showed her shallow breathing and the purple, red and white skin, mottle skin."
Ella was quickly rushed into a treatment suite and was later diagnosed with sepsis within hours. She was hooked up to intravenous drugs and spent twelve days in hospital where she was gravely ill. Thankfully, she is now perfectly healthy, but Jade said she wanted to release the video to help other parents spot the signs of sepsis.
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"She was OK, she gradually got her strength back but it was very, very scary," Jade added. "I'm releasing the video now because I came across it recently and just thought 'every parent should see this'.
"Everyone needs to know what to look for. I knew something was wrong with my daughter but I didn't know what - hopefully some good can come out of something horrendous happening to my daughter.
"If I hadn't taken that video there's no way Ella would be here."
If you've been affected by sepsis or would like support, visit sepsistrust.org.
Featured Image Credit: Caters