Mum’s miracle baby who arrived after she suffered 16 miscarriages is killed by meningitis in just SIX HOURS
Fleur-Rose Allen died on April 4 this year, just days after she started walking for the first time
THE miracle daughter of a mum who suffered 16 miscarriages before she was born was killed by meningitis in just SIX hours.
Lizzie Allen's daughter Fleur-Rose woke with a slight temperature and crying.
The 15-month-old suffered four cardiac arrests and was declared dead just days after she started walking for the first time.
Her mum wants to share their heartbreaking story to warn others of the speed at which the deadly virus can take over.
Fluer-Rose was born on New Year's Eve 2014, two-and-a-half months early following a difficult pregnancy.
On April 4 of this year, hairdresser Lizzie thought she had a bug and gave her water and Calpol.
The 32-year-old said: "Fleur-Rose was so healthy. She was toddling and laughing the day before she died.
“At 1pm on the day we lost her, she was sat on her daddy Matt’s knee, grinning away.
“By 6pm she was taken to the hospital’s resuscitation department.
“At 11.04pm she was dead.”
Lizzie, from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, told how on the morning her girl died she woke with a temperature and crying.
She said: “It was unusual, because normally she would be laughing. She was a cheeky thing. Friendly, giggly and so well-behaved.”
Soon she suffered a febrile convulsion - a seizure caused by excessive heat and when she was rushed to Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital by ambulance, her temperature was measured at 39 degrees.
Lizzie added: “She was drifting in and out of consciousness, while on the way to the hospital although she had stopped fitting.
"But, on arriving, she seemed to perk up. She started playing with toys.”
At about 1pm she had an X-ray on her chest, which was clear, but she still was not eating.
Her mum said: "She appeared healthy and was still drinking.
“I remember saying at teatime, ‘Shall we try her with some food.
“She had one mouthful of mashed potato.”
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It was at this point that Lizzie noticed a slight red blotch on Fleur-Rose’s neck, which spread down it as she watched.
“I just shouted to Matt, ‘Go and get a nurse.’
“But moments later it had gone and there were only tiny pinprick marks.
“She was pale, but conscious and crying. They were trying to get a water sample from her.
“They said they were going to give her an antibiotic, which would treat meningitis .”
It was the first time she had heard mention of meningitis .
“I was terrified,” she said.
Then, at 6pm, Fleur-Rose was moved to the resuscitation unit and a specialist team from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, was called in.
“She deteriorated before our eyes. The rash returned, creeping from her feet to her head and at 11.04pm there was nothing more they could do.
“My darling daughter died.”
After the toddler died they discovered she had contracted streptococcal meningitis, a bacterial strain of the virus.
Lizzie now wants to warn other parents to look out for all the symptoms of meningitis.
She said: "“People always look for the rash, but her rash didn’t develop until later.
“At lunchtime she was cheerful, but actually she was being killed from the inside out.
“She was too young to articulate how she felt.
She couldn’t say, ‘Mummy my eyes hurt; Mummy I have a bad tummy’.
“I think every child who is admitted to hospital with similar symptoms should automatically have a meningitis check.
“A child’s life isn’t a lottery.”
Since Fleur-Rose’s death, Lizzie has raised £12,000 for in her daughter’s name.
“I want people to remember her,” she said. “I had 16 unexplained miscarriages in six years before she was born.
“Time after time, I experienced heartbreak. Then, finally, she was there.
"My pregnancy wasn't easy. They feared she was disabled because the scan indicated fluid round her neck.
"She arrived early and weighed just 4lbs, but she was a miracle.
"Walking out of the hospital with her in my arms, I was finally a mother.
“And then she was gone. It was heartbreaking.”
A young woman posted a series of shocking photographs which showed just how much damage meningitis can do as a warning to others.
Charlene Colechin uploaded the images from her hospital bed, where she has spent the past month fighting for her life as doctors battled to save her.
A revolutionary new two hour test could spot deadly infections, including meningitis, before they kill.
British scientists are developing the test – which detects bugs like sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia – and say it could be available on the NHS within five years.
For more information about the signs and symptoms or to donate visit the website at
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