A six-year-old boy died of Sepsis after doctors repeatedly sent him home and told him to take Calpol, an inquest has heard.

Connor Horridge, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, began suffering ear ache and sickness and was rushed to the doctor's when his symptoms worsened.

But his parents were told it was 'nothing to be majorly concerned about' and it would 'probably' be a viral infection. In less than 24 hours, Connor was taken to hospital as an emergency with a dangerously high temperature but was again discharged, advised to continue taking Calpol and told 'he would get better', Bolton Coroner's Court heard.

Four days later Connor's mother rushed him to hospital after he collapsed shouting 'mummy, my legs'. 

Despite the best efforts of medical staff Connor passed away later that evening.

The youngster's parents, Joanne, 34, and Thomas, 38, believe that if the doctors examined Connor 'properly', there could have been an 'entirely different' outcome.

They claim that it was only after Connor's death the hospital took a blood test and saw that his white blood cells had gone 'through the roof'. But the pathologist who examined Connor's body confirmed that no one could have predicted the outcome as the infection took over so 'rapidly'.

Dr Melanie Newbold, who assisted with the post mortem, said: 'Sepsis can be lethal. Sepsis can be aggressive and angry, especially towards a young child.

'We all have bacteria in our blood, however, this kind of bacteria cannot be controlled and therefore changes rapidly out of control and can cause septicaemia. There is no way of protecting against it.

'Whilst we were looking at Connor's body, we saw that he did have a number of viruses at the time, but none of them would have contributed to his death. He appeared to be a healthy boy.'

Dr Newbold continued: 'There was no suggestion that previous doctors would have known this outcome. When he was seen on December 11 they were right in diagnosing him with a viral infection.