THE mother of little William Mead has told The Packet of her "bittersweet" pride after the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, apologised for the 16 mistakes which led to the death of her one-year-old son.

On Tuesday, William’s mum, Melissa, made numerous television appearances as national news channels all wanted to hear William’s story and the family’s response to a 22 page report by NHS England which claims William could have been saved if call handlers working for the NHS 111 hotline had recognised how seriously ill he was.

Since William’s death in December 2014, only weeks after his first birthday, Mrs Mead has been working with the NHS and has had considerable input into the report in the hope of preventing other families from going through what she and husband, Paul, have had to endure.

Only hours after Mrs Mead’s first television appearance, the health minister addressed the House of Commons saying: “Quite simply we let her (Mrs Mead), her family and William down in the worst possible way through serious failings in the NHS. I would like to apologise to them on behalf of the government and the NHS for what happened.”

Speaking to the Packet shortly afterwards, Mrs Mead, of Penryn, said she was overwhelmed by the interest the report had generated. “It has surpassed what we had wanted and to have Jeremy Hunt apologise on behalf of the government and the NHS was quite spectacular,” she said. “We are hoping to set up a meeting with him.

“We set out to raise awareness of sepsis and now the whole country knows about it and knows who William was. That fills us with bitter-sweet pride in that we are doing the best we can possibly do as parents, but to see William’s face on every television on every channel, that blows my mind.

“We didn’t want to be doing this, but it’s the only thing we can do - it is William’s legacy. We have to move forward and do our best to share William with the world.”

The report,which identifies 16 failures by NHS staff to identify how seriously ill William was, includes a number of recommendations and has already led to extra training for 111 call handlers.

Mrs Mead, who carries a teddy bear containing William’s ashes with her, said: “We are satisfied with the report and that the report covered everything we wanted it to cover. It is something we have had so much input into and now it’s about making sure these recommendations are implemented and monitored and that we achieve the change that needs to come from this report.”

This is not the end of the road for the Meads’ campaign to raise awareness of sepsis, however. “It cannot just stop here, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Mrs Mead, 29.

Asked whether she was proud of her achievements, she said: “I am not proud of myself, I am proud as a mum. William was my life and he continues to be my life. He has to live on in everything we do.”

The signs to look out for which could mean your child is critically ill with sepsis:

* They feel abnormally cold

* Their skin looks mottled, bluish or is very pale

* There is a rash that does not fade when pressed

* Their breathing is very fast

* They have a fit or convulsion

* They are lethargic or difficult to wake

If your child has one or more of these signs, the advice is to ring 999 and say you worried about sepsis,