An eight-year-old girl died of sepsis after being sent home by a GP who said the local hospital was full.
Mia Glynn visited a GP surgery twice in four hours, but her parents Soron, 39, and Katie, 37, were told by the doctor to take her home despite presenting symptoms of Group A Strep.
Her parents, from Biddulph, Staffordshire, first took Mia to the doctor after she had begun vomiting, had a severe headache and complained of a sore throat on Dec 5, 2022.
On the morning of Dec 8, her parents took Mia, who had developed a temperature and severe headache, back to the GP surgery.
A nurse practitioner told her mother that Mia’s symptoms were viral and advised her to give her daughter fluids and paracetamol.
But Mia returned to the surgery just after midday and was sent home following an examination by a GP.
Despite asking whether she had the infection Group A Strep, which was prevalent at the time, a doctor advised Mia’s mother to give her fluids and ibuprofen and to wait to start the antibiotics when Mia went to bed.
They were told to take their daughter home because the hospital was full and they would have to wait in a corridor.
Mia slept in her parents’ bed that night but woke up in the early hours of Dec 9, disorientated and with blue lips and rashes on her arms and legs.
She complained of feeling hot but was cold to touch.
After being rushed to the hospital by ambulance, Mia was given intravenous fluids and antibiotics, but went into suspected septic shock and suffered a cardiac arrest around 15 minutes after arriving at the hospital.
Despite resuscitation attempts, she died around 20 minutes later.
Mia’s cause of death was given as sepsis caused by Group A Strep infection.
Following Mia’s death, her parents, who also have a son Beau, 12, instructed expert medical negligence lawyers to investigate her care and secure answers.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Mia’s death, her mother Katie said: “Our world and hearts broke forever when our beautiful daughter was snatched away from us.
“Mia had been taken to the doctors twice to be told her symptoms were viral. Around 15 hours later she died of sepsis.
“The unbelievable and unbearable pain we feel is unexplainable and unimaginable.
“Our beautiful healthy girl was the happiest, brightest, most loving and caring girl who smiled, danced, brought joy and love to everyone she met.
“She brought so much laughter and fun.”
After Mia’s death, her family and well-wishers raised more than £40,000 in Mia’s memory through fundraising events, including sponsored runs and local business donations.
The family has donated more than £16,000 to the UK Sepsis Trust and has set up the charitable organisation aiM – an anagram of Mia’s name – in their daughter’s memory.
Mia’s mother added: “We’ll never get over the pain of losing Mia, especially in the way we did.
“Our family will never be the same without Mia. She had her whole life ahead of her and was taken from us in the cruellest way imaginable.
Her father, an engineering teacher, said: “Seeing Mia in her final moments was awful.
“We feel so blessed that she was our daughter but are completely heartbroken that Mia was taken from us so soon.
“A lot of people may have heard of sepsis but it’s only after what happened to Mia that we realise just how dangerous it is.”
He added: “We need to educate the public and health professionals to identify the signs of sepsis and ask the question “could it be sepsis?”.
Victoria Zinzan, the specialist medical negligence lawyer representing the couple, said: “Sadly through our work we see too many families affected by sepsis; with Mia’s death vividly highlighting the dangers of the condition.
“Early diagnosis and treatment is key to beating sepsis, therefore it’s vital people know what signs to look out for when it comes to detecting this incredibly dangerous and life-threatening condition.”
