For the past six months, an anger has roiled deep inside me — a rage buried under layers of terrible grief and pain.
The cause? The death of my precious little girl, who slipped away before my eyes in May, aged just nine.
Her death came after doctors misdiagnosed her twice, when instead they should have been treating her invasive Group A Strep infection.
Then, last weekend, when I read of all these other children dying in the same way as my funny, loving, beautiful Scarlotte, my anger finally erupted and I wept with bitter frustration.
Scarlotte Williams-Taylor, pictured, died of Strep A in May 2022 aged nine. Her mother said: ‘I’m furious with myself because, like those other grieving parents, I let doctors’ reassurances override my instincts as a mother’
Scarlotte Williams-Taylor, pictured, died of Strep A in May 2022 aged nine. Her mother said: ‘I’m furious with myself because, like those other grieving parents, I let doctors’ reassurances override my instincts as a mother’
At the time Scarlotte lost her life, Strep A seemed like a terrible and rare tragedy. Today, knowing other families are suffering in the same way mine is . . . well, now my fury just cannot be contained.
I’m furious with myself because, like those other grieving parents, I let doctors’ reassurances override my instincts as a mother. And I’m angry that over five long days Scarlotte was misdiagnosed: first our GP thought she had croup — a mild childhood respiratory infection — and later another doctor concluded she had food poisoning.
By the time my husband, Calley, a production operative, and I realised just how desperately ill she was, it was too late.
When we eventually arrived at A&E, it was so obvious to the staff how sick Scarlotte was, they put her in a wheelchair and rushed her straight to a resuscitation room. They quickly got her on life support, but sepsis had overwhelmed her body. They couldn’t save her.
I cradled her in the moments after she’d died, her neck still warm in the crook of my arms. My child had gone. I still can’t believe it. The shock is all-encompassing