A six-year-old girl has sadly passed away just 12 hours after she was taken to hospital with a stomach ache.
After taking the day off school on 15 February with a suspected bug, Milly-Rose Stirrup, from Denton, Greater Manchester, was later rushed to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital the following morning as her symptoms got worse.
She told her parents, Shaun and Pip, that her stomach and heart were sore.
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The young girl was later hooked up to antibiotics while the parents were discussing what they'd do once she was well enough to go home.
Unfortunately that day never came.
Within just a few hours of being admitted to hospital, Milly-Rose was pronounced dead.
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The cause of her death has not been confirmed, but doctors think she could have been suffering from sepsis.
Her devastated parents have described their daughter as an 'angel sent from above'.
Shaun said: "It doesn't feel real. We woke up in the morning expecting her to be in her bed. She is our only daughter - we put everything into her."
The father recalled: "She went to bed on Wednesday night and woke up on Thursday morning at 1am saying her belly was sore and her heart.
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"We did what most parents would do and tried to calm her down. At 2am we got to A&E at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. The triage nurse had a look at her and said that everything seemed normal and told us to do the 5ml water challenge to check if she had stopped being sick.
"We went into the waiting room and there were so many kids being sick we felt we were more likely going to catch something so we just decided to do it at home since the nurse said all her vitals were normal."
Though Milly-Rose initially appeared to improve, the next day Shaun noticed she was sweaty and when he tried to help her up she became 'limp'.
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Shaun added: "I had to catch her before she hit the floor and we knew she needed an ambulance.
"Her skin was mottled and she was going a funny colour.
"The call handler told us it was an emergency but said we might have to wait three hours for an ambulance to come.
"We just jumped in the car and rushed there from Denton."
Within ten minutes of arriving, Shaun said Milly-Rose was being treated as a 'worst case scenario' by doctors, who opted to put her on the suspected sepsis and meningitis pathway.
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Doctors worked on the girl for an hour before making a decision to stop.
The girl's death has been referred to the coroner, and further investigations to confirm how her condition deteriorated so quickly from the point of hospitalisation are ongoing.
She was huge Manchester City fan and was a big supporter of Phil Foden.
As a touching tribute, fans of the club are planning to remember her with a round of applause at their next home against Newcastle United on 3 March.
A North West Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We like to offer our sincere condolences to Milly-Rose’s family at this very difficult time. If they have any concerns, we invite them to contact our patient safety team."
A spokesperson for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital strives to provide the best possible care for our patients. The death of Milly-Rose was tragic, and our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this time.”
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