Parents offer bereavement help after sepsis death

A family who lost a six-year-old girl to sepsis are offering bereavement counselling through their new charity after being told there was an 18-month wait for support via the NHS.

Ruby Trussler, from Harlow, Essex, had initially had her appendix removed in March 2024 and seven months later she was again admitted to hospital where doctors found she had abdominal adhesions - where scar tissue sticks organs or tissues together. She died a week later on 11 October.

The Ruby Rose Foundation was set up on what would have been her eighth birthday - and it is planninga charity football match on Sunday, 7 June.

Her mother Emma Trussler said the wait for any NHS counselling was "ridiculous".

"We managed to find someone quite local, privately, who we could see the next day," she added.

"It is very, very expensive and not everybody is in the position to pay. We wanted to give that opportunity if people need it, but can't afford it.

"It definitely helped me just being able to talk to somebody that wasn't involved, that didn't know us, didn't know Ruby.

"I was not sure about talking to a stranger, but it really did help."

Sepsis is a life-threatening immune system response to infection, in which the body damages its own tissues and organs.

Nationally it is responsible for 48,000 deaths each year, according to the UK Sepsis Trust.

The Ruby Rose Foundation has been raising awareness about sepsis, but Emma, 46, said it was now also focusing on providing bereavement counselling after discovering she and her husband would have to wait up to 18 months for help after contacting NHS services and charities.

Their charity was officially launched on 14 November by Emma, her husband Dean and Emma's older daughters Ellie, 25, and Izzy Falconer, 22 - and has raised about £48,000 for both its own work and the UK Sepsis Trust.

The charity can fund up to four counselling sessions to anyone who lives locally and is struggling with grief.

Ellie said they hoped to eventually expand the service across the country.

Emma - a childminder who also has five-year-old twins Teddy and Harry, while Dean has an older daughter Amelia - said running the charity had been "so helpful - it keeps me busy all the time" after the loss of her "happy, smiley" daughter.

Emma had taken Ruby to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow after she started being sick, stopped eating and drinking and was constantly sleeping, and was failing to improve.

Ruby was transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge after Emma said doctors discovered scar tissue, left from the appendix surgery, was obstructing her bowel in a rare complication.

Surgery was then carried out to release the adhesion, but "from that operation on a Tuesday morning, she didn't wake up," said Emma.

Ruby underwent more surgeries and had her leg amputated because of a blood clot. The family were then faced with the news she could need more amputations as her condition worsened.

Her parents had to make the decision to switch off her life support machine.

An inquest in Chelmsford in January 2026 concluded Ruby died of natural causes which were "the consequences of recognised complications of necessary surgeries and treatment".

The causes of death were recorded as multi-organ failure, sepsis and complications arising from appendix surgery.

Ruby's death happened two months after Ellie, who lives in Loughton, had started work as a nursing associate degree apprentice at the Princess Alexandra.

The tragedy has seen her immerse herself in work as she tried to understand how her sister died. It resulted in nominations for two Student Nursing Times Awards.

"More could have been done if people knew more about sepsis and the signs and symptoms," said Ellie.

She has published a children's book, Super Teddy, to help youngsters spot signs of sepsis, which grew out of her degree assignment at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford. She volunteered to raise awareness of sepsis and has been liaising with the Princess Alexandra about its introduction of annual mandatory training for healthcare workers.

"I needed to carry on because it was my way of coping," said Ellie.

"I was able to have a better understanding of sepsis because of the access I had to uni libraries and lecturers and staff."

Emma said accompanying her eldest daughter to the awards ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel in April was a "super proud moment," even though she did not win.

"To see her name up on that stage... absolutely amazing," said Emma.

She was full of praise for those who "stood up and came and supported" the foundation.

"We've raised a lot more than we ever thought we would," said Emma.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust's interim chief nurse Jo Ward said in a statement: "We offer our deepest condolences on the sad loss of Ruby and our thoughts continue to be with her family.

"We are unable to comment on individual cases, however, we have fully investigated the circumstances surrounding Ruby's care and treatment at our hospital and with our partner organisations.

"The coroner found that the circumstances of Ruby's death were sadly unavoidable."

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