Girl, 5, dies two days after being struck down with ‘normal sickness bug’ – just months after mum’s cancer diagnosis
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl died two days after being struck down with what appeared to be a normal sickness bug - just months after her mum was diagnosed with cancer.
Little Ava Bailey died from a rare bacterial infection called Lemierre's Syndrome, which is also known as the "forgotten disease."
Now her parents, Deborah Moore and Martyn Bailey, are on a mission to raise awareness of the rare disease - as they paid tribute to their "gorgeous princess."
Deborah, 33, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer months before her daughter died, said: "Our hearts still break through this god awful disease...we need to get more awareness on Lemierre’s Syndrome.
"If we can help one family not go through what we have then we have succeeded in our Ava's name.
"She is and always will be our gorgeous princess Dino, our hearts will never be filled again."
WHAT IS LEMIERRE'S SYNDROME?
Cases of Lemierre's Syndrome dramatically decreased in the 1940s because of antibiotics - which is why it's known as the "forgotten disease".
Odds of contracting Lemierre's are about one in a million.
Symptoms include a sore throat, muscle weakness, tiredness and fever.
The bacterial infection causes abscesses in the organs, which can lead to death. It can also cause liver failure and difficulty breathing.
Ava, from Peterlee in County Durham, fell ill what appeared to be a normal sickness bud in December 2017.
But within hours her condition had dramatically deteriorated and she started dropping in and out of consciousness and her family rushed her to hospital.
Ava was admitted to hospital on December 1 and died two days later after her parents made the devastating decision to turn off her life support machine.
They discovered months later she had died from Lemierre's Syndrome - which affects about one in a million people.
Deborah told the Hartlepool Mail: "The neurologist thought she had a brain stem injury. We were told [on December 3 2017] that she had irreversible damage to her brain and there was no hope – she wasn’t there anymore."
Paying tribute to her daughter she said: "Ava loved football and dinosaurs. She was a real tomboy. She was a really happy kid and her laugh was infectious.
"She was really close with her brother Owen, who is 12 now, she called him onion because she couldn’t say Owen."
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Deborah added: "We do all we can to raise awareness of Lemierre's. I tell everyone to look out for the signs."
Six months before her daughter passed away, Deborah was diagnosed with cervical cancer and had to undergo a radical hysterectomy.
"That year was the worst year of my life", she said. "I don't think anyone has gone through as much as I did."
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