A Christmas tragedy as a toddler was found dead hours after being sent home from hospital

The devastated parents of a 22-month-old baby have told how they found her dead – just hours after she was sent home from hospital.

Little Hailey Thompson was diagnosed with the virus on December 18 and her family were told to keep giving her fluids and paracetamol.

But early the next day, her parents Kris Thompson, 32, and Iboyla Adam, 35, found her unresponsive in her bedroom.

Kris performed CPR before a paramedic took over and the child was rushed to Wigan Infirmary – where she tragically died despite the best efforts of doctors.

Now an investigation has been launched after her parents complained that Hailey’s case was not being taken seriously enough.

Kris, from Wigan, Gtr Manchester, said: “We can’t believe we’ve lost our little girl.

“Everything happened so fast. Something in her body took control of her.

“When we found her at 5.30am on Monday, she was lying in exactly the same position I saw her in when I went to bed at midnight, only she was stiff and her skin was colorless.

“It was a terrible sight and it will follow me for the rest of my life.

“We knew in our hearts she was gone but I called 999 and screamed into the phone that our daughter was dying so they had me do CPR until the EMS arrived.

“But she couldn’t be revived and she was pronounced dead at the hospital.”

On December 7, Hailey started having a cough and a runny nose, so she was taken to a GP who prescribed antibiotics, but she stopped taking them due to an allergic reaction.

A week later, she was taken to another doctor’s appointment where the family was told that since she had a viral infection, she needed Calpol instead of antibiotics.

Just a day later, she was well enough to run around, eating and drinking well and going to bed at her usual time of 6.30pm.

Kris checked on her at 11pm, where he found his daughter gasping for breath and immediately called 999, who said an ambulance would be arriving shortly.

After 20 minutes, he didn’t arrive and 111 told him there was a two-hour wait, so he took Hailey to the emergency room, where they waited for more than five hours before she was examined.

The doctor took Hailey’s blood pressure and couldn’t check her tonsils, so he told the family to go home, where she went straight to sleep.

Her parents were told to hydrate her and give her a dose of Calpol and to return her to the ER if she didn’t improve in three days.

She then woke up at midday but was coughing, had a runny nose and was ‘completely out of character’.

Hailey was put to bed at 6.15pm on December 18 and Kris noticed she was panting again, but not as heavily as before.

Less than six hours later, the couple made the most shocking discovery.

Wigan A&E had one of its busiest days on Sunday 18th, with the department later declaring a ‘critical incident’.

But Ibolya and Kris want to know why no blood samples were taken when they took Hailey to the hospital ‘gasping like a 90-year-old.’

The couple also said an attempt to check her tonsils was abandoned because the girl struggled, gagging and then vomiting.

Kris and Ibolya said to take Hailey home and hydrate her, and if she didn’t improve in three days, take her back to the ER.

But tragically, the young man died within 24 hours.

Kris said: “We want answers. How can a healthy baby die in his sleep?

“And why wasn’t she tested for strep A, scarlet fever or Covid for example?”

A post-mortem cannot be carried out until December 28, leaving the couple facing an agonizing wait for answers, with police passing on details to the coroner.

A spokesman for Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our sincere condolences to Hailey’s family at this tragic time.

“We are aware of the family’s concerns and are currently awaiting further information to understand more.”

SWNS