A Family’s Unexpected Battle with Sepsis: Adyan’s Story

Nine-year-old Adyan Alam’s life changed forever during what should have been a routine family trip. While stopping at a service station on their way home, Adyan suddenly collapsed moments after his father ordered him a burger. His father, MD Ashraful Alam, recounted the terrifying experience to Newsweek: “Everything happened so fast, and we still don’t quite understand how.” What made the situation even more shocking was that just days earlier, Adyan had been hiking in Wales, UK, showing minimal signs of illness. Though he had experienced some fatigue and shortness of breath on the final day of their trip, his family had no idea that these were early warning signs of sepsis—a life-threatening condition that the CDC describes as triggering a dangerous chain reaction throughout the body. The speed with which sepsis overtook Adyan’s previously healthy body highlights why medical professionals often refer to it as a silent killer, capable of escalating from mild symptoms to organ failure with frightening rapidity.

That fateful day of July 7 became a blur of emergency responses and fear. When Adyan collapsed, emergency services quickly determined his heart had stopped and immediately performed CPR to revive him. Even after this initial resuscitation, the family’s ordeal was just beginning. During the two-hour journey to reach a hospital near their London home, Adyan suffered another cardiac arrest. His father remembered the doctors’ grim assessment: “His organs weren’t functioning—they were shutting down.” For the next eight days, Adyan remained in a coma, connected to multiple life-support machines, including dialysis, while receiving powerful antibiotics to fight the infection. His parents, who had never heard of sepsis before, were consumed by fear and uncertainty. “My wife Maisha Jabin and I were in total shock and worried sick,” Alam explained. “We feared he wasn’t going to make it.” This lack of awareness about sepsis is unfortunately common, despite it being a major cause of medical emergencies and death worldwide.

While Adyan lay in a coma, his parents noticed a terrifying development—his lower legs were turning black. This gruesome transformation was a direct result of how sepsis affects the body’s clotting mechanisms. The Sepsis Alliance explains that during normal function, blood flows smoothly through vessels, delivering oxygen and nutrients while removing waste products. Clots only form when necessary, such as to heal wounds. However, during sepsis, the clotting system goes haywire, creating excessive clots that block blood flow to extremities. Without adequate circulation, tissue begins to die and can become gangrenous, often requiring surgical intervention. Adyan’s medical team delivered the devastating news to his parents: “We were told he is going to need an amputation because of the lack of blood flow, but they couldn’t do it straight away because he was in a critical condition.” The family now faced not only the fight for their son’s survival but also the reality that his life would be permanently altered by this mysterious condition that had struck so suddenly.

The following ten weeks in the intensive care unit became the new normal for the Alam family. Adyan’s parents maintained a constant vigil by his bedside, while their two-year-old son stayed with family members back in London. “Living in ICU was hard; every minute, his vitals were changing like his oxygen and blood pressure dropping. We were in total shock for a while,” Alam recalled. “We cried relentlessly. We were hoping for the best and just wanted to be at home with both of our sons.” The emotional toll was immense as the family navigated the uncertain terrain between hope and despair. Each small improvement brought cautious optimism, while setbacks plunged them back into worry. Through it all, the parents had to maintain strength not only for their critically ill child but also for their younger son, who couldn’t understand why his family had suddenly been torn apart. This extended period of crisis living illustrates the profound ripple effects that severe medical emergencies have on entire family systems, disrupting normalcy and creating emotional and logistical challenges that extend far beyond the hospital walls.

By September, doctors determined that Adyan had stabilized enough to undergo the necessary surgeries. The football-loving boy had his left leg amputated below the knee and lost part of the muscle tissue from his right leg. These procedures, while life-saving, marked the beginning of yet another challenging chapter. Adyan now depends on a wheelchair while awaiting a prosthetic leg, a dramatic change for a previously active child who loved football and cycling. “Our whole life has changed,” his father explained. “Adyan is upset because he used to play football and cycle daily. Now he can’t as his body had to sacrifice his leg due to sepsis.” Despite his young age, Adyan is showing remarkable resilience in accepting what happened, though his father acknowledges that “it is a big adjustment.” The physical limitations represent only one aspect of Adyan’s recovery journey. Like many sepsis survivors, he faces the possibility of long-term effects, including potential impacts on organ function, energy levels, and psychological well-being. For children especially, adapting to such significant physical changes while processing the trauma of a near-death experience requires tremendous support.

The family’s challenges extend beyond Adyan’s medical needs to practical concerns about their living situation. Their current flat isn’t wheelchair accessible, forcing them to search for a new home that can accommodate their son’s changed mobility needs. “Nothing can prepare you for any of this,” Alam reflected. “Everything happened so suddenly, and we are searching for answers—it is hard to recover from all of this.” Despite the ongoing difficulties and the permanent changes to their lives, Alam finds strength in gratitude: “The main thing is we are lucky to have him in our life.” Adyan’s journey from septic shock to recovery illustrates both the devastating impact sepsis can have and the importance of raising awareness about this condition. After being discharged from the hospital on December 8th, Adyan’s father has become passionate about educating others about sepsis—a condition he had never heard of before it nearly took his son’s life. Their story serves as a powerful reminder of how quickly life can change, the resilience of the human spirit, and the critical importance of recognizing sepsis symptoms early, when treatment is most effective and the chance of avoiding severe complications is greatest.