Girl, 12, dies after being rushed to hospital with headaches on family holiday
A 12-year-old girl died after being rushed to hospital while on holiday after she complained of crippling headaches.
Gemma Caffrey, who has been described as “happy and bubbly,” was rushed to Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Great North Children's Hospital, in Newcastle, on October 25, 2021. The young girl suffered headaches which caused her to wake up in the middle of the night and was admitted to hospital on October 11, 2021 when her headaches became much more intense.
An inquest at Newcastle Coroner's Court concluded that Gemma died "due to the effects of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST)", which prevents blood from draining out of the brain. Assistant Coroner Karen Dilks added the "underlying cause of which is unascertained."
Paying tribute to their child at the inquest, Gemma's parents Alison and Graeme Caffrey said: "Gemma was happy, bubbly and always smiling. Her laugh was very infectious too. She was full of life and very, very clever. She loved school and socialising with her friends. We run our own business and if we ever went away she would come with us - she was very well-travelled."
The inquest heard how Gemma was on holiday with her parents at Haggerston Castle, in Northumberland, when she was taken to Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital (NSECH), in Cramlington. She was transferred to the Great North Children's Hospital on the same day, where she later underwent a craniectomy to remove a section of her skull to relieve pressure on her brain.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Gemma’s parent told ChronicleLive how Gemma loved Haggerston Castle and would visit with her family from Hamilton, in Lanarkshire, three times a year - Easter, summer and in October. It was at the caravan park that she first developed her love of horse riding after going on a pony trek at the Haven holidays site.
An inquest heard how Gemma was on holiday with her parents at Haggerston Castle, in Northumberland, before being rushed to Specialist Emergency Care (Newcastle Chronicle)During their holiday Gemma was booked on a pony trek at Haggerston Castle. However, she asked not to go after telling her parents she wasn’t feeling very well and this is what raised concerns with her parents. Alison said: "We knew something was wrong because we had booked her pony rides and she woke up on the Saturday and said 'I can't do it'. At that point, we knew that something was not right because that was her passion."
She added: "She had just started horse riding in June. She'd been going on at me since she was five years old that she wanted to do horse riding. I eventually caved in June and she was incredible. By September she was starting to learn to jump on the pony. Her favourite pony was Sparky and she always said that she wanted her own pony - which she would have got.” Sparky, Gemma’s favourite horse led her coffin at the funeral and was dressed up in yellow.
Alison brought Gemma's cuddly toy reindeer, Ruby, to the inquest, which was also wearing a yellow bow from her funeral. Following the inquest, Alison and Graeme said: "We feel very relieved that the process is over. We've had our chance to ask our questions directly to [the staff who cared for Gemma] and now I feel like we can fight for justice for Gemma. It has gone on for a very long time.”
However, both the coroner and [the family liaison officer] have been very thorough and they had an appreciation of everything that had happened." The couple, plan to set up a charity to raise awareness of CVST, so what they went through isn’t repeated. They said: “Headaches are one thing but headaches waking you from sleep should not be ignored. Any GP should not ignore that. CVST, albeit rare, is lethal. You can't overreact in those circumstances. If we can get a bit more visibility and a profile we can help another family."
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