Sepsis mistakes killed our daughter - we fear it could happen again

When she was 16, Bethan James told her YouTube channel that by 2026 she hoped to have a partner, an enjoyable job and maybe even children.

Bethan would have been 27 now - but her dreams were taken when she died aged 21 from a combination of sepsis, pneumonia and Crohn's disease.

Bethan's sepsis wasn't spotted early enough and life-saving care was delayed. Now her grieving parents are campaigning for better training to diagnose one of the UK's biggest killers.

A BBC investigation has found sepsis awareness training is still not mandatory at most hospitals in Wales, and Bethan's parents fear that what happened to their daughter could still happen to others.

This included at the hospital where Bethan died and the Welsh government said sepsis awareness was a "focus" and a "priority", while the Welsh Ambulance Service said "meaningful changes" had been made.

Jane and Steve James said they were "haunted and totally devastated" by the "needless death" of their eldest child in 2020.

Bethan died six years ago this week and her parents fought for an inquest where a coroner found that the journalism student "would not have died" if her care and treatment had not been delayed.

A BBC investigation has found that sepsis awareness training remains a lottery in Wales and is still not compulsory at Wales' largest hospital, the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where Bethan died.

"You go into the hospital and there's sepsis posters on lifts and walls but if their actual frontline staff can't recognise the symptoms of sepsis, it just beggars belief," said Jane.

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Source: BBC News, 9 February 2026

Further resources on the hub:

• Spotting the signs of sepsis: a series of short videos
• Top picks: 11 resources about sepsis