Stella-Lily McCorkindale: Five-year-old dies of Strep A as her distraught dad took her to a hospital thrice
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND: A little girl reportedly died from an Strep A infection while her distraught father took her to an A&E twice over two days before she was sent to intensive care on the third visit,
As per the Mirror, Robert McCorkindale's five-year-old daughter, Stella-Lily, a student at Black Mountain Primary School, died on Monday, December 5, nine days after initially becoming sick. McCorkindale took her to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children twice, but he was sent home each time after they identified her illness as a viral infection.
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Stella-Lily would have had "two extra days of fighting" if the hospital had acted sooner, the grief-stricken father said. "They should have tested her for Strep A on the Monday [November 28], by the time they induced her Stella had given up," McCorkindale reportedly said.
McCorkindale said that he first took Stella-Lily to the hospital on Monday, November 28, "I carried her in because she couldn't walk. The doctor looked at me and said what was wrong and I said she is very sick. She then asked why did you bring her [Stella-Lily] here and I was like 'my daughter can't even walk' and I told them everything. They asked if I gave her Lucozade and I said 'no she drinks water', and they said she needed the electrolytes because she was dehydrated. They put a wooden stick on her tongue and said it was viral and said she just needed to be hydrated with Lucozade. In less than five minutes I was convinced I was an overbearing father and I felt bad for bringing my child there."
He claimed she felt worse the next day, November 29, and took her in a second time, where he says a doctor helped with hydration but said she was still unwell. Stella-Lily's condition deteriorated by November 30. McCorkindale said, "By 5pm on Wednesday Stella had said 'mummy, I feel like I'm dying' and so we took her back. I shouted at them that we were not going anywhere until we saw a doctor. In 15 minutes, this doctor ordered tests and found she had a chest infection and they said, 'We think this is toxic shock now." They weren't 100% sure it was Strep A, and they feared it was sepsis too because the blood was infected. The blood culture came back for a Strep A a few hours later."
McCorkindale said that Stella-Lily died for five minutes while battling the infection. "All the doctors on the ICU ward did everything for her, they bent over backwards and treated her like a princess," he reportedly said, adding, "By 3am Thursday, her whole body shut down and she died for five minutes and they brought her back. They had to keep her in an induced coma to get antibiotics in her," he added.
He continued, "The A&E was disgraceful until that Wednesday. They did everything for her, they bent over backwards and there were doctors coming on their day off to try and help her. The only thing that breaks my heart is that I can forgive the doctor on Tuesday [November 29] because she cured her dehydration and I have no bad feelings for her. It is the doctor on Monday night, she had no interest in doing anything to my daughter, she made me feel so small, that I was an overbearing father bringing her in." He added, "I know their job is hard, I know I can't do that job, but if you can't give the same care to the first child you see compared to the 99th child you shouldn't be in that job."