Q&A with Audrey Leishman

 

 

Audrey Leishman is the author of the new children's picture book Katie Koala's Biggest Fight. She and her husband, Marc, are the founders of the Begin Again Foundation, which helps people affected by sepsis. She lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Q: How did your own experience with sepsis inspire you to write Katie Koala's Biggest Fight?

I had never even heard the word sepsis until it almost killed me. I was 31 and healthy, a mom to two little boys who needed me. It started like the flu, body aches and a fever, the kind of thing you push through because you don't have time to be sick.

Within days I was in the ICU, then in a medically induced coma. I spent 10 days in the hospital, five of them unconscious. Doctors gave me less than a 5 percent chance of survival.

During my recovery, I learned just how much sepsis costs families and hospitals. It's the most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals, costing the healthcare system over $62 billion a year. A sepsis hospital stay costs nearly double the average stay for any other diagnosis, and it's the third leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals.

That's why I started the Begin Again Foundation. Awareness and early recognition save lives. Katie Koala grew directly out of that mission. I wrote it because the only thing worse than what I went through would be watching one of my own children go through it. I wanted families to have this knowledge early, in a way kids could actually understand, long before it's ever an emergency.

Q: Why did you choose a koala as the story's protagonist?

A: When I decided to write a children's book about sepsis, I knew I'd be walking a fine line between educating kids and scaring them. I wanted a story that felt gentle and empowering, something children would gravitate toward and ask to be their bedtime story.

My husband, Marc, is Australian, so a cast of Aussie animals felt like a natural fit. Katie is both cute and strong, which is exactly the balance I was after.

Q: What do you think Katie Jerabek's illustrations add to the book?

A: As the kids say, Katie understood the assignment. We'd worked together before on Sepsis Superheroes, a coloring book to help children in the hospital understand what was happening to them during treatment. 

 

When I sent her the manuscript for Katie Koala's Biggest Fight, I let her run with it. She illustrated characters that are cute and cuddly, and she made sure Katie and her friends could tell this story in a way that feels uplifting rather than scary.

Q: What do you hope kids, and adults, take away from the story?

A: For kids, I hope it's simple: your body can tell you when something is wrong, and it's always okay to say so. For adults, I hope it's urgency. Sepsis kills more children than pediatric cancer, and it can turn deadly within hours.

I dismissed my own symptoms because I didn't have time to be sick. I don't want any parent to have to learn what sepsis is in the middle of losing time with their kids.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Right now I'm developing a free educational guide for girls ages 10 to 13 about safe period products, using the same Katie Koala characters. A medical professional will review it before release. Alongside that, I'm continuing the work of the Begin Again Foundation, sepsis awareness, survivor support through our Financial Aid Fund, and events like the Begin Again Celebrity Classic.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Sepsis awareness truly saves lives. It can develop from any infection, and every hour treatment is delayed, the risk of death climbs by as much as 8%. Early detection saves lives, and as parents, we're our children's best advocates. Asking "Could this be sepsis?" could save their life. Or yours.

Symptoms include a high fever or abnormally low temperature; rapid or labored breathing; skin that looks pale, mottled, or has a bluish tinge; lethargy, or being very difficult to wake; a rash of small purple or red spots that don't fade when pressed; decreased urination; and a racing heart. Learn more at www.beginagainfoundation.com

--Interview with Deborah Kalb