A MUM is looking to raise awareness of a life-threatening infection after a simple scratch led to the end of her sister’s life.

Caroline MacKim, 53, from Halstead, is raising funds for charity to combat sepsis, an infection which tragically claimed the life of her sister, Lucy Smith, who would have turned 50 today.

Lucy, who was a solicitor, died in April 2015 aged 44 after a short battle with the infection.

She cut her hand while gardening and died within a few days leaving two young children, George and Megan, who were five and seven at the time.

Six months after Lucy’s death, Caroline decided to try to raise awareness of the dangers of the infection with the help of her family - husband Graham (Kipper), 60, son, Tom, 31, and daughter Alice, 14.

Caroline and her family have raised around £7,000 for the UK Sepsis Trust with fundraisers such as Tom’s Leap for Lucy skydive which raised thousands of pounds.

Caroline said: “So far we have raised just under £7,000.

“We first started fundraising six months after Lucy died, Alice designed a Christmas card which we sold through Facebook and we raised our first £1,200.

“Last summer the skydive raised over £5,500.

“We are always thinking, what could we do next? How can we add a little bit more to what we have already achieved?

“The Christmas cards were really successful, so I’m hoping to design a card for this coming Christmas.

“Also, my husband Kipper is a boxing coach and we have discussed hosting a charity boxing event. We will have to see.”

Caroline has started a fresh fundraiser to celebrate what would have been her sister’s 50th birthday.

Donations can be given via justgiving.com/fundraising/lucys-50th. The page has so far raised £450 for the trust.

She also has a Facebook page called “I love Lucy, in memory of Lucy Smith” which has garnered more than 300 members, to keep people informed.

Caroline added: “My message to anyone reading this today would be if you don’t know about the signs of sepsis and what to look out for, please go to the UK Sepsis Trust website and find out at sepsistrust.org/about/about-sepsis.

“If you have Sepsis then receiving treatment quickly is key to survival.

“Sepsis is a medical emergency, and your condition can deteriorate quickly so if you are worried that someone might have sepsis, you should take them straight to A&E or call 999.

“My sister was a healthy 44-year-old who simply cut her hand gardening.

“We just had no idea, and because of this, my sister did not receive treatment until it was too late.”