Our happy, healthy girl, 6, told us her belly hurt – 12 hours later we’d lost her forever
HEARTBROKEN parents have told how their healthy six-year-old daughter died just hours after she complained of stomach pains.
Shaun Stirrup and his wife Pip have been left devastated by little Milly-Rose’s sudden death earlier this month.
The schoolgirl, from Denton, Manchester, passed away only 12 hours after being taken to hospital by her worried parents.
She had come home from school feeling unwell on February 14, leaving the couple suspecting she had caught a 24-hour stomach bug that was doing the rounds.
Milly Rose, who was described as an “angel sent from above”, was kept off the following day and seemed to have perked up.
Distraught dad Shaun told the Manchester Evening News: “She was just playing on her Nintendo Switch doing what kids do when they aren’t well.”
The Man City obsessed youngster had eaten an ice lolly before heading to bed, where her condition took a drastic turn during the night.
“She woke up on Thursday morning at 1am saying her belly was sore and her heart,” Shaun said.
“I felt her heart and it was beating out of her chest. We did what most parents would do and tried to calm her down.”
He and Pip rushed their daughter to A&E at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where she was assessed by a triage nurse who said everything “seemed normal.”
Presuming Milly-Rose was suffering from a stomach bug, they were advised to do a fluid challenge whereby her parents would give her 5ml of water every five minutes for two hours to see if she could “keep it down”.
But as there were so many kids vomiting in the waiting room, the couple decided to monitor their daughter at home.
The dad continued: “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.”
The little girl managed to eat a packet of crisps and drink a bottle of Lucozade and then went back to sleep.
But as Shaun checked on Milly-Rose before leaving for work the following morning, he found her drenched in sweat and “limp” as he tried to help her up.
He recalled: “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.
She woke up on Thursday morning at 1am saying her belly was sore and her heart. I felt her heart and it was beating out of her chest.
Shaun Stirrup
“The call handler told us it was an emergency but said we might have to wait three hours for an ambulance to come.”
The parents instead decided to take Milly-Rose to hospital themselves and arrived around half an hour later.
They were told by doctors that their daughter was being treated as a “worst case scenario” within ten minutes of arriving.
Milly-Rose was being treated under the suspected sepsis and meningitis pathway as she continued to “pour with sweat” despite her body temperature plummeting.
“Her heart rate was 135 which they said they weren’t overly concerned about. They needed to regulate her core body temperature,” Shaun said.
“It did settle down and we thought we were through the worst of it and I considered going home to get her pyjamas.
“But then after an hour they took her into the resuscitation unit. We thought that just meant she’d be getting more focused care.”
‘OUT OF THE BLUE’
Horrified Pip briefly left the room as she was so upset at the state the schoolgirl was in, as Milly-Rose appeared “tired and in pain”.
Shaun then recounted how his daughter’s condition then suddenly worsened as his wife returned to the room.
“Within 15 seconds of her entering the room Milly turned her head towards the wall and stopped blinking and her heart stopped and the machines started bleeping,” he said.
The parents were ushered out as medics began CPR, battling to save the young Man City fan for an hour.
She was tragically pronounced dead at 1.24pm on Thursday morning.
Milly-Rose’s grief-stricken dad continued: “It was just so out of the blue. From the time she had first complained of her belly hurting to passing away was 12 hours.
“The last thing we expected was for her heart to stop. We were just in shock. My wife was inconsolable.
NUMB
“We just broke down in tears. You just feel numb and empty. 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 six-year-old’s death has been referred to the coroner as they work to determine how her condition deteriorated so quickly.
Her parents told how Milly-Rose had dreamed of going to Disneyland and sitting opposite the Eiffel Tower eating cheese – despite being lactose intolerant.
The Man City mad little girl also wanted to travel to Jamaica as well as visit her cousins and get up close with koalas in Australia.
They now want to honour their darling daughter by completing her bucket list in tribute to the youngster.
Shaun said the support they have received from the community has been “incredible” and has given them the strength to share Milly-Rose’s story.
‘AN ANGEL SENT FROM ABOVE’
Fans of her beloved footy team are set to hold a minute of applause in the sixth minute at their next home game against Newcastle on March 3.
Her family hopes the schoolgirl, who “was in love” with her favourite player Phil Foden, will be honoured by Man City on the stadium screens.
Dad Shaun added: “Milly-Rose made an impression on everyone. She was an angel sent from above.
“Teachers would always say if they could design the perfect student she would be it.
“She had been riding a horse since the age of two and was a natural. She could have anything she wanted. She made friends with everyone.”
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 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.”