Mother of 13-year-old who died from undiagnosed diabetes describes signs mistaken for flu

Beth Reynolds, a 47-year-old mother from Cardiff, Wales, has described how her son Peter died at 13 from type 1 diabetes that the family did not know he had. The signs of the disease had been mistaken for flu symptoms.

The first sign Beth recognizes now was Peter’s unusual thirst. It appeared in mid-December 2014, during a school trip to Germany. After he returned, two days before Christmas, he developed a cough and a cold, followed later by flu-like symptoms.

Peter had been ill for about two weeks and was not getting better, so Beth took him to the doctor on December 31, 2014. Doctors diagnosed a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics. Within 24 hours, however, his condition deteriorated sharply.

On January 1, 2015, Beth called emergency services. The first emergency responder arrived at the house within five minutes. After checking Peter’s vital signs and performing a quick finger-prick blood test, he suspected type 1 diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a life-threatening complication.

Peter was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales and admitted for specialist care. Doctors warned the family that his condition was extremely serious and that his body was beginning to shut down.

Over the next five days, the 13-year-old suffered cardiac arrest, was resuscitated during surgery, developed several infections and spent some time on dialysis. On January 6, 2015, doctors told Beth that a scan no longer showed brain activity and that there was nothing more they could do to save him. She and Peter’s father, Stuart, said goodbye.

Beth recalls that Peter was taken to a separate room in the children’s ward. She and Stuart lay beside him and stayed there as the machines were switched off. They told him how much they loved him, how much they would miss him and what a wonderful boy he had been.

Looking back, Beth says Peter had shown all four classic signs of type 1 diabetes, known as the four Ts: Toilet, frequent urination; Thirsty, increased thirst; Tired, fatigue; and Thinner, weight loss. At the time, each had been given another explanation.

She had attributed his weight loss to a growth spurt during puberty, his thirst to his illness, and his fatigue and frequent urination to his flu-like condition. Only later did she realize that they were all warning signs. Beth adds that there was no family history of diabetes and that, apart from ordinary colds, Peter had had no health problems or chronic illnesses.

After her son’s death, Beth promised herself that his loss would not be in vain. She decided to speak up for Peter and try to help as many other children as possible.

In the years that followed, she began sharing Peter’s story to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes and support Diabetes UK Cymru. In 2023, she organized the national “Rewrite Peter’s Story” campaign, sending information to every family medicine practice in Wales so the signs of the disease could be recognized earlier.

According to Beth, spreading information about these symptoms has helped save at least 23 people. She believes her family would have had 24 more hours with Peter if the doctor had given him a finger-prick blood test.

Beth continues to talk about Peter with her two other children, his sister and brother. She reminds them that using their voices to help others matters.