A West London family has spoken of their heartbreak following the death of a dad-of-two. Brett Dymond fell ill with sepsis last week and rapidly deteriorated to the point where on Mother’s Day (March 19) his life support machine was switched off.

Brett’s cousin Kelly Sims told MyLondon her relative felt “like he was coming down with something” earlier in the week and he had a spot on his leg that started to swell, but he’d gone to work as normal.

Even when his symptoms developed and his wife Charlene was advised by 111 to take him to hospital , Brett was in good spirits. “He came in laughing and joking,” Kelly said, “all the staff were really fond of him because he was so funny and nice. One male nurse said to me they kind of bonded because they had a lot of things in common and he was just making him laugh.”

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It emerged, Kelly explained, Brett had Sepsis caused by Necrotising Fasciitis or the ‘flesh eating bug’ and Haemolytic Strep A. Doctors had to put Brett in an induced coma and give him kidney dialysis. Unfortunately, things got worse.

“He had two cardiac arrests that evening, which did some damage to his heart. They resuscitated him and was still in a coma asleep, but he was really, really fragile,” she explained. “A few things made it look like he was going get better and then the following day, Saturday, he had another cardiac arrest.”

‘His pupils started to dilate’

Having managed to survive all of that, Kelly and the family were still tentatively upbeat about Brett’s chances. Oxygen levels and other vitals were showing signs of improvement which gave the family hope.

"We were actually feeling a bit relieved at that point because we thought maybe he was going to come round. If it did survive he was going to have probably one leg and part of his body would have had to be taken out. The blood in his body was being pumped into the main organs so it was not coming around to his like fingers and toes. They were all black and would have had to be amputated.”

But later that day there was an indication something even worse had happened. “That evening, his pupils started to dilate,” Kelly added, “that is like a key sign that he had gone brain dead. They had to take him to have a CT scan and what's happened with his brain.”

The family was given the awful news his brainstem was dead the following day and took the heart-wrenching decision to switch off the life support machine. It was Mother’s Day when Brett should have been at home spoiling Charlene and relaxing with the family.

“That was awful for me as well because I've got two young children and was celebrating Mother's Day. We did not expect him to go like that. It was so sudden,” Kelly said.

Kelly wanted to do something to support her cousin’s partner their toddler, Tommy, and Brett’s son from a previous relationship 16-year-old Reiss. Knowing the considerable financial strain the funeral will cost the family she set up an online GoFundMe fundraising page .

“I went in to see Brett at the end up in the hospital and one of the things I said to him was ‘I promise I'm going to help look after Charlene, Reiss and Tommy and make sure they're comfortable. I just want you to know that they're not here on their own. I'm going to make sure I can do everything I to make this all easier for them.’ That's why I decided I wanted to do the GoFundMe.”

The reaction has been incredible and donations have flooded in. “I'm just overwhelmed by the response and how kind everyone has been. It makes it really emotional actually, to know that there are nice people out there that can help and support in hard times,” she said.

Brett grew up in Northwood, Hillingdon he loved being active and using his hands to make things. He had a passion for fixing cars and once built a boat with his friend Chris from scratch that they sailed on the Thames. Brett put his love of all things manual to good use with his own successful plumbing business.

“He was quite a private person he didn't really like social media,” Kelly continued, “He hated the limelight and was quite quiet in that ense. But if you knew him, he was just lovely to everyone. Everyone would say he was such a good person, he had a kind heart and would help everyone and anyone.”

You can donate to the GoFundMe here .

What is sepsis?

Sepsis is caused by the body’s response to an infection. Your immune system protects you from illnesses and infections but sometimes it can overreact, triggering widespread inflammation which can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death. The biological processes that cause sepsis are not understood, and this is why we need more research.

Sepsis is a medical emergency. Around 250,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with sepsis every year, of which around 50,000 die. Sepsis is the primary cause of preventable death in the world.

What are the 5 key symptoms?

  • Confusion

  • Not passing as much urine as normal

  • Very high or low temperature

  • Uncontrolled shivering

  • Cold or blotchy arms and legs

You can find out more about sepsis here https://www.sepsisresearch.org.uk

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