The BBC weatherman lost his father to sepsis (Image: Getty)
weatherman Derek Brockway opened up on the tragedy that “could have been prevented” – and that killed his father.
Derek, star of , lost his dad Cliff in 2015. He was living in a care home at the time and diagnosed with vascular dementia, and in the weeks leading up to his death had been battling a series of infections. At Christmas in 2014, he sadly developed sepsis.
He admitted to the : “I felt an immense sadness, thinking to myself this could be my last Christmas with him.” By February, he was told by doctors his dad had sepsis – a form of blood poisoning resulting from infection, when the body attacks its own tissues and organs.
The disease kills 44,000 people each year in the UK alone. Derek admitted: “What’s so frightening is that sepsis is a ‘silent killer’ which can strike at lightning speed.”
But the chances of survival from sepsis are good if IV fluids and antibiotics are administered quickly – which is why it’s vital sepsis is caught early.
Don’t miss…
The star wants to prevent unnecessary sepsis deaths (Image: Getty)
In 2016, Derek decided to film a special investigating the death toll of sepsis and how it affects families in the UK, titled Derek Brockway: Understanding Why My Dad Died.
It involved returning to the University Hospital of in Cardiff, where his dad had passed away – and he admitted: “Staff there did their best for my dad but unfortunately he was too ill to beat sepsis.”
He said afterwards: “I loved my dad very much and nothing is going to bring him back. But if by raising awareness of our experiences, [we] can help prevent even one unnecessary death, it would be a fitting tribute to [someone] who meant the world to us, who is missed even more painfully at this time of year, , around the anniversary of [his] death.”
In 2022, Derek was recognised with a British Empire Medal as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, and confessed it had a huge effect on his remaining parent.
He gushed: “I was at home when I had a letter from the Cabinet Office, and when I opened it, it was a bit of a surprise, to be honest. It really caught me out of the blue. But it’s a really great honour and my mum’s over the moon.”