The One Question That Could Have Saved Cathy Kassis After She Died of Undiagnosed Sepsis

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 daughter’s condition worsened, they thought it was croup, which she had had before. They took their normally cheerful daughter to the doctor.

She was prescribed prednisone for croup, but she still did not improve and a return visit to the doctor brought no improvement.

One night, Cathy had difficulty breathing and her parents rushed her to the emergency department at Bathurst Base Hospital, near their home in NSW Central Tablelands.

Her mother filmed harrowing footage to show the doctors. The girl was in shock and gasping for breath.

Two days later Cathy suffered a cardiac arrest at home and was airlifted to Sydney, where she was declared brain dead the following day.

A year later, her parents regret the burning question that could have saved Cathy’s life: Does she have sepsis?

“They took her in to be checked out but the doctor had to leave halfway through the check up to do (CPR) and she put us back in the waiting room and said they would bring us back,” Ms Kassis said. A current case.

When five-year-old Cathy Kassis (pictured) fell ill in the winter of 2023, her parents initially thought it was just a cold and a runny nose, but the next two weeks would tear the family apart

‘And then about an hour went by and they came back and said they had spoken to the paediatrician and they said we should just carry on with the Panadol, Nurofen and what we were doing.

‘So the pediatrician never really looked at her, at what was happening.’

Cathy’s parents took their very sick child home, not knowing she had an undiagnosed illness. sepsis caused by streptococci A.

Sepsis, also called blood poisoning, occurs when the body responds to an infection and damages vital organs.

It can be fatal, and in Cathy’s case it was.

Two days later, the five-year-old girl suffered a heart attack at home and her father performed CPR while they waited for the ambulance.

Cathy’s three siblings watched it all happen, right before their eyes in the living room.

She was flown to Westmead Children’s Hospital in western Sydney, 180km away, where she underwent urgent testing.

But the diagnosis and treatment she eventually received came too late and the next day Cathy was declared brain dead.

More than a year after their trauma and heartbreak, her parents are still searching for answers.

They are calling for changes to the system so that people who show symptoms are automatically tested for sepsis.

Jazz Kassis (pictured) said: ‘the pediatrician himself never looked at her, at what was happening’

The couple is begging parents to ask doctors a simple but potentially life-saving question: Is it sepsis?

“As a parent, you know your child better than anyone else, so you know when something is not right,” Kassis said.

Her husband added, “They didn’t test for anything, not strep A or a bacterial infection or anything like that.

“I think they need to be looked at and studied more closely because I certainly think (testing for sepsis) was warranted. You’re not meant to outlive your children.”

In their deepest grief, the Kassis’s agreed to donate Cathy’s liver and both kidneys to save the lives of three other children.

They don’t know who received Cathy’s organs, but they have given the families permission to contact them if they wish.

“I would love to meet them because they have a part of her in them,” Ms. Kassis said.

She said the decision to donate Cathy’s organs “was difficult, but she immediately said yes.

“Our worst day made someone else’s life the best day of their life… the phone call that their child would live.”

Western NSW Local Health District, which includes Bathurst Base Hospital, said in a statement that it “extends our sincere and deepest condolences to the family of Cathy Kassis and recognises the significant impact her death has had on her family and community”.

The health authority was said to have provided Cathy’s family with “support and information, including the findings of a serious adverse event investigation”.

‘We review all cases where an unexpected outcome has occurred to determine where we can 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 could no longer breathe and her parents rushed her to the emergency room at Bathurst Base Hospital (pictured)

The health district’s statement also notes that the Clinical Excellence Commission reviewed the Sepsis Pathways this year.

‘These have been promoted in (the Western NSW Local Health District) to assist clinicians in identifying risk factors, signs and symptoms of sepsis, communicating to an experienced clinician and promptly initiating treatment.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the health department for further comment.