So tragic and immensely sad.. does anyone have any suggestions for proper care god for us my son ever gets sick? This is not the first story I have read where the lack of care was worrisome.I hope I am wrong , I hope for my own child’s sake that the care in Ireland isn’t so bad.
29 comments
This has made me bawl. Those poor parents, that poor child.
The child with nowt but concern for nurses 🙁
I wonder was this a case of doctors not wanting to be handing out antibiotics unless absolutely necessary? They have become so unwilling to give them out in recent years.
> “At one stage he turned to Lilly and me, and said: ‘Parents scream at your daughter, call her back! Call her back! Bring her back!'”
Fuck me, that’s rough
Fucking hell… The poor child and her poor family…. I’m in bits here after reading that…
Oh my God what a horrible story that poor girl and her family 😔
What a tragic story. Seems like a failure of the health service rather than the parents not being vigilant
The poor girl and her poor family. She had symptoms of sepsis for days and it wasn’t picked up on. I understand the need to spread the word about Strep A because it’s going around at the moment but you can develop sepsis from any infection and it can kill.
The article should have had a list of symptoms of sepsis underneath it. [Here is a link. ](https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/sepsis/)
Just unbelievable that the poor child was seen by so many doctors and none of them thought fit to test for strep or give antibiotics. Doctors are not infallible. Surely by the third visit and worsening symptoms they should have questioned if the first and second diagnoses were right? It sounds like the poor parents were desperate and kept having their concerns dismissed.
It’s devastatingly sad, but what makes it worse is that it’s not just a random tragedy.
It’s a damning indictment of the healthcare system and a clear sign that there are very serious failings in Ireland.
It’s simply disgraceful that in this day and age a city the size of Cork – coincidentally where the Apple HQ are located – does not have decent facilities for pediatric surgery and aftercare.
Time is of the essence when someone is critically ill and having to take a child with sepsis to hospital in Dublin by road is just not good enough.
The very least that should be done with whatever tax Apple and other multinationals do pay in Ireland is to ensure that decent healthcare (not to mention childcare or housing) is provided to the country’s (relatively small) population.
What is the point of a budget surplus if a child has to endure an agonising death from something that could have been cured with antibiotics?
My friend died of sepsis two weeks ago. They reckon it started as strep.
He was fine on the Wednesday, had a temperature on the Thursday and then died in the ICU on the Friday night.
He was a fairly fit guy. He ran and cycled and played GAA, but he died from strep on about 3 days.
That was a tearful read. That poor girl and her family. I hope those parents get the support they need to help them stay strong for their other children because what they went through was just terrible.
I was in hospital with Strep A a few weeks ago.
Started the same, sore throat but the actual infection was in my leg below the knee and spreading fast.
I spent one day in pain with the shakes and temperature, then on Patrick’s morning my wife bundled me into the car and took me to hospital.
First doc who saw me sighed and said it was going to be a nightmare, straight onto drip antibiotics and paracetamol. It wasn’t until the Sunday that the infection stopped spreading, and I was eventually discharged on the Tuesday.
All the time I was in hospital I was on 2 antibiotic drips and a drip painkiller, every 6 hrs
The strep A infection had turned into cellulitis and I was scoring 2 out of 4 on the sepsis scale at one point.
That’s heartbreaking what a lovely lovely kid. Her poor family
My GP swabbed my throat for Strep when I was sick a few weeks ago. Definitely seems to be taken more seriously these days.
That is an extremely upsetting read. The poor girl and her family.
One of the most harrowing things I’ve read in a long while. That’s the kind of trauma that will haunt you for life.
Well this was fucking harrowing. I gave my daughter a very big hug after reading it.
I’ve had lots of run-ins with the healthcare system over the years. My takeaway is: they’re mostly great, but they make too many mistakes to ever fully trust them.
You do have to get in people’s faces a bit sometimes, unfortunately. They will push back, they will say you’re being unreasonable, they’ll tell you they have it under control. But if you’re not 100% happy, you do have to keep at them.
Once they’re on the case, they usually provide an excellent level of care. The real problems happen in this kind of situation–when they *think* they’ve got it under control but they’ve missed something. .
As a parent of two young kids it’s good to remind yourself it’s ok to scream at lazy GP’s sometimes.
Please also understand strep can also lead to PANDAS
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/pandas.html#:~:text=When%20it's%20clear%20that%20a,is%20linked%20to%20another%20infection.
It is crippling and debilitating. Always take Strep very seriously.
My wife cried reading this earlier, tough one for myself also to get through. Very sad
Be vigilant? It looks like the parents did everything they could. Maybe the doctors could be more vigilant, or should parents start diagnosing their child’s symptoms. What an absolute nightmare situation, and as a father stories like this really worry me.
I got strep during my Leaving last year and it was the worst fucking thing I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing. I had to go on steroids for it. My throat felt like sharp glass shards anytime I swallowed anything.I was in bed just crying all day. I was genuinely thinking of going to the hospital cause it wasn’t getting any better after a week. Thankfully the steroids + antibiotics cleared it up fast but its got me worried about catching it again.
Damn that was harrowing.
4 times a Doctor sent them home. There needs to be consequences here. Anyone coming back within 24 hours of first consultation with worsening symptoms needs to be listened too.
GPS say everything is a virus these days.
I understand there are a lot of rampant viruses about.
But how long does it take to do a urinary dipstick test.
It’s a 10 minute job that highlights infection.
Those GPs should be banned from practicing medicine, reading that was infuriating.
2 trips to the GP and a call to the GP all over numerous days with deteriorating condition.
GPs in Ireland are ridiculous. I know a woman how went nearly 2 years with cancer without being diagnosed properly. When she was finally persuaded to go to hospital instead of the GP the doctors were shocked it hadn’t been picked up sooner.
My rule of thumb is – if its debilitating and getting worse – it’s the hospital.
GPs are for basic first aid and referrals only – and most of the time they get that wrong.
Last time I took a GP seriously – I went into the same GP month after month complaining of severe stomach pain resulting in horrendous bouts of flatulence. They kept telling me to lose weight – I was 1-2 stone underweight. But I lost weight and went back – they said “lose more weight” at this point my nickname was literally skeletor – I went to another GP who was a semi retired specialist – who within 15 mins had worked out I had some kind of bacterial culture growing in my gut – gave me a dose of tablets and sorted it within a week. Over a year I was dealing with this with that GP telling me to just lose weight.
Strep throat in the absence of a rash is clinically indistinguishable from viral pharyngitis.
This is an utterly tragic case.
What is the cause of this illness? Is it a viral infection? How do you catch it? Can you get a vaccine?
That was a tough read. Poor little girl
I’m from Millstreet.
Can clearly remember going to the wake at the house and see Vivienne’s mother cradling her hand. Noblest thing I have ever seen.
I never want to be in a situation that involves me burying my child.
They’re braver people than me.