14 March 2023 , 14:20
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A family of a three-year-old boy have told how he wanted to watch cartoons before suddenly collapsing and dying of Strep A without having shown symptoms.
Theo Emm died at his home after falling seriously ill with the "silent killer", on February 18, having shown hardly any signs of illness.
He had been a "bit lethargic" the night before but was feeling better by the time he went to bed.
The family from Westbury, Wiltshire, had only just welcomed Theo's baby brother Oliver into the world days beforehand when the tragedy struck.
Parents Billy and Jody Emm are still too distraught to speak, but want to raise awareness of the illness, said Billy's brother, Chris Emm.
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A photo of Theo and his brother Oscar together (Jody Emm / SWNS)
Jody and Billy want to raise awareness about the illness (Jody Emm / SWNS)"I've spoken to my brother and Jody and they said they didn't feel they were able to talk about this as it's still too raw for them," he said.
"Usually they would be okay about talking, but they just didn't feel they could. They did say to me that they wanted more than anything to raise awareness and not for people to think it is a sob story to take pity on them.
"This kind of condition in children is often called a 'silent killer' and it is very rare for children to die from it. In Theo's case, there were no symptoms. He just collapsed on the Saturday morning and died."
Chris, who works as a nurse in the accident and emergency department at Salisbury District Hospital added: "When he woke up on Saturday morning he wanted to watch the cartoons on TV so he was carried downstairs.
Theo showed no symptoms before becoming very ill said his family (Jody Emm / SWNS)"Billy and Jody decided to phone 111 and while they were on the phone Theo just collapsed with a cardiac arrest."
A Wiltshire Air Ambulance emergency response team arrived at the family's home within minutes of the call.
Paramedics carried out CPR on Theo for about half an hour but they were unable to revive him.
Theo's death came just a week after his brother Oliver was born and the family now treasure a photograph of the pair with Oliver in his big brother's arms.
Billy, 29, and Jody, 31, are looking into having counselling sessions to try to come to terms with Theo's sudden death.
He had been "lethargic" the day before but was fine when he went to bed (Jody Emm / SWNS)
Strep A normally isn't too dangerous but can become very serious (Jody Emm / SWNS)Strep A is usually accompanied by flu-like symptoms consisting of a high temperature, swollen glands, an aching body or a sore throat known as 'strep throat'.
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It can sometimes be accompanied by a rash that feels rough, like sandpaper (scarlet fever) scabs and sores (impetigo).
Following antibiotic treatment, symptoms typically resolve within one to three days but strep A can occasionally turn into a more serious and potentially deadly illness.
Chris said: "They are still trying to process what has happened but having a new child is helping a lot."
He added: "Strep A has been around for years but unless you routinely swab a child you would never find it."