24 February 2023 , 11:42
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A family has been left devastated after a six-year-old girl died just hours after playing on her Nintendo Switch.
Little Milly-Rose tragically passed away earlier this month and her death has been referred to the coroner to work out how she went from a bubbly young girl to dying in a hospital in a matter of around 12 hours.
Doctors believe Milly-Rose was likely suffering from sepsis when she was rushed to the hospital from Denton.
The big Manchester City fan, whose favourite player was wing wizard Phil Foden, Milly-Rose was described as an "angel sent from above," by her devastated and loving parents Shaun and Pip Stirrup.
Shaun told the Manchester Evening News that Milly-Rose's passing "doesn't feel real."
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He said: "We woke up in the morning expecting her to be in her bed. She is our only daughter - we put everything into her."
"She started being sick so we kept her off school the following day and she was just playing on her Nintendo Switch doing what kids do when they aren't well.
A huge Manchester City fan, some supporters plan to hold a minute's applause at the next home game (Shaun Stirrup)"She went to bed on Wednesday night and woke up on Thursday morning at 1am saying her belly was sore and her heart. I felt her heart and it was beating out of her chest.
Milly-Rose was then taken by her parents to A&E at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, where a triage nurse looked at her and said everything seemed normal.
Her parents, assuming she had a stomach bug that was going around her school, were told to do the 5ml water challenge to check if she had stopped being sick.
They then decided to do this monitoring at home, after finding the waiting room full of "so many kids being sick." This worried the mum and dad that Milly-Rose would catch something on top of what she already had and they were also told by the nurse that their daughter's vitals were normal.
Milly-Rose began to weaken quickly after she returned home from A&E (MEN)Things began to look up and the young girl was able to eat a packet of crisps and drink a bottle of Lucozade.
Leaving for work the next morning, Shaun checked on his daughter and found her to be covered in sweat before alarm bells began to ring when Milly-Rose became "limp" as her dad tried to help her up.
"I had to catch her before she hit the floor and we knew she needed an ambulance," he said. "Her skin was mottled and she was going a funny colour. The call handler told us it was an emergency but said we might have to wait three hours for an ambulance to come.
"We just jumped in the car and rushed there from Denton. It was rush hour and we just flew down the bus lanes to get there as quickly as we could. We arrived after about half an hour."
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'We just flew down the bus lanes to get there as quickly as we could," Shaun said (Shaun Stirrup)After arriving at the same hospital, Milly-Rose was treated as a worst-case scenario and doctors worked to treat her on the suspected sepsis and meningitis pathway.
"Her heart rate was 135 which they said they weren't overly concerned about," he said. "She was hypothermic but pouring with sweat so they needed to regulate her core body temperature.
"It did settle down and we thought we were through the worst of it and I considered going home to get her pyjamas. But then after an hour they took her into the resuscitation unit. We thought that just meant she'd be getting more focused care."
Pip, upset at seeing Milly-Rose in the state she was in, briefly left the room as the young girl looked tired and "in pain."
Shaun then explained the horror that unfolded in front of them.
He said: "Within 15 seconds of her entering the room Milly turned her head towards the wall and stopped blinking and her heart stopped and the machines started bleeping."
An hour of CPR was unable to save her as Milly-Rose's parents were led out of the room.
"It was just so out of the blue," said Shaun. "From the time she had first complained of her belly hurting to passing away was 12 hours.
Milly-Rose 'wanted to marry' Phil Foden (Shaun Stirrup)"The last thing we expected was for her heart to stop. We were just in shock. My wife was inconsolable. We just broke down in tears. You just feel numb and empty."
She sadly died at 1.24pm on February 16 and the Manchester NHS Foundation Trust said her passing was "tragic."
Inconsolable, the parents of the vibrant young girl - she wanted to go to Disneyland and also sit opposite the Eiffel Tower and eat cheese despite being lactose intolerant - broke down in tears at the news.
They now say the support they have received from the community has been "incredible" and hope to tick off the remaining items on their daughter's bucket list in her honour.
Milly-Rose also wanted to go to Jamaica and visit her cousins and see Koalas in Australia.
Fans of her beloved Citizens are planning to hold a minute of applause in the sixth minute at the next home game, which is against Newcastle United on Saturday 3.
Foden, who Milly-Rose "wanted to marry," is likely to play in the fixture.
Her dad said: "Milly-Rose made an impression on everyone. She was an angel sent from above. Teachers would always say if they could design the perfect student she would be it
"She had been riding a horse since the age of two and was a natural. She could have anything she wanted. She made friends with everyone."
The North West Ambulance Service offered their condolences and said the parents should speak to the patient safety team if they have any concerns.