The parents of a 10-year-old girl who died from a Strep-A infection have described their daughter’s final days of life in an attempt to raise awareness about the dangers of Strep-A.
Just two weeks after complaining of a sore throat, Vivienne Murphy, from Millstreet in Co Cork, died in Temple Street Hospital in Dublin on March 1st, 2019.
Her only other symptoms were a high temperature, a rash and some aches and pains.
Speaking to RTÉ's This Week radio, Vivienne’s parents Lilly and Dermot Murphy described their daughter’s final days.
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On February 14th, Mr Murphy collected Vivienne from school and said she was not herself.
“When we opened her shirt and took off her school clothes, we saw this rash ... We got a bit of a shock,” Mr Murphy said.
Vivienne’s parents rushed her to the out of hours GP service and were told she had a viral illness. But two days later, Vivienne’s fever was still out of control.
Returning to the out of hours GP, the parents explained they couldn’t keep her temperature down and that the rash was spreading. The second doctor also believed Vivienne had a viral illness.
Vivienne was taken to her family GP when her condition had still not improved, and the GP believed her illness was viral.
“Later on that night we carried her up the stairs to her little room, and the two of us were in the room with her and she was just miserable, and we said there something not right,” Vivienne’s mother Mrs Murphy said.
Her parents then rushed their daughter to the emergency department at Cork University Hospital (CUH).
“We took off her pyjamas and we saw a little black mark on her right leg,” Mrs Murphy said.
“The nurse said, ‘What’s that?’ And we said: ‘we don’t know’,” she said.
“She went into a panic mode, and called the doctor who came and asked us if she had fallen, and we said ‘no’.”
When the results of a blood test came back “all hell broke loose”.
“The nurse said, ‘your daughter is critically ill’.”
The black mark on their daughter’s leg, which was now getting bigger, indicated the presence of a disease called necrotising fasciitis, a rare bacterial infection that spreads quickly through the body, which can cause death.
Vivienne had to be taken to Temple Street in Dublin for an operation to amputate their daughter’s leg in an attempt to save her life because there was no Paediatric Critical Care Unit at Cork University Hospital to care for her after surgery.
“That took hours. We had to wait for an ambulance to come from Dublin with specialists to look after her. It took ages,” Ms Murphy said.
Before Vivienne was made unconscious, her final words were: “thank you, nurse, I’m sorry for crying. I know you’re only trying to help me”.
“That was the dignity she had. They were her last words on this planet. She had so much empathy. The world is a sadder place without her,” Mr Murphy said.
“Just take care of her,” Mrs Murphy said, giving permission for their daughter’s surgery.
When the surgery was complete, Vivienne’s parents were informed the doctors “had to cut away 17per cent of your daughter’s body” to stop the disease from spreading.
The disease had spread up her leg, on to her buttocks, across her abdomen, and then down her left leg.
It had begun as Strep A, which led to sepsis, then shock, and then to necrotising fasciitis.
The day after the operation, Vivienne went into cardiac arrest.
“They were trying to bring her back, and they’re pumping and pushing and trying hard to save Vivienne,” Mr Murphy recalled.
One of the doctors told the parents to “scream at your daughter, call her back – she will know your voice”.
However, because of the cardiac arrest, Vivienne suffered brain damage. She died on 1st March.
Vivienne’s parents spoke to RTÉ with the hope of raising awareness about the dangers of Strep-A.
“If your child has a fever, or a rash, be vigilant, these things can change so quickly. Our daughter started off with signs and symptoms and within ten days she was gone,” Mr Murphy said.
The parents also criticised the lack of intensive care facilities for children outside of Dublin.
“If Vivienne’s story could save one child, that’s a plus,” Mrs Murphy said.
The HSE expressed its “deepest sympathy” to the Murphy family, in a statement shared with RTÉ.
