Little girl died after doctors said she was 'absolutely fine' and sent her home

Mum Jacqueline says doctors wouldn't listen to her concerns

A mum was told her toddler was "absolutely fine" just days before she passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest triggered by a common respiratory virus. Jacqueline Malaney, 30, regularly took her daughter, Connie, 18 months, to the doctors due to her breathing problems, but says she was told time and time again that there was "nothing wrong".

Doctors put her laboured breathing down to laryngomalacia - a condition common in infants where floppy tissue from the vocal chords collapses inwards, causing wheezing, and said it wasn't a cause for concern.

In July 2024, the stay-at-home mum rushed her daughter to hospital, after her GP said she had low oxygen levels, and she was diagnosed with RSV and then sent home with a three day course of antibiotics.

But, the next day when Connie hadn't improved, so she was admitted back to hospital where her condition deteriorated, leading to her suffering a cardiac arrest, which caused her to pass away three weeks later.

Jacqueline has been left frustrated and feels doctors "wouldn't listen" to her and that she has been left without answers.

Jacqueline said: "Connie was always the one out of my three children to pick up a bug. She was ill from birth, but she never got diagnosed with anything, my concerns were never taken seriously.

"She would get ill once a month, and when she was ill she would just lie there looking so limp and poorly. I was always taking her to the hospital because she sounded like she was struggling to breathe, but doctors would tell me her oxygen levels were absolutely fine.

"I knew there was something more going on, it was so frustrating."

In July 2024, when Connie was 18 months old, she became ill with heavy breathing and a fever - so Jacqueline took her to the doctors, where she was told that her daughter's oxygen levels were low.

She said: "I took her to the doctors - she was no more ill than the other times - but my GP said they needed to take her to a hospital, because her oxygen levels were so low, they were going down to the 80s."

Connie was rushed to hospital in an ambulance - where doctors took a swab and diagnosed her with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). RSV is a very common respiratory virus that infects the nose, throat, and lungs, with symptoms such as wheezing and fever.

It can be serious for infants and those over 65, and in rare cases can be fatal. Following the diagnosis, Connie was given a three day course of antibiotics and sent home.

"They said she was fine. I wasn't happy with this, and questioned it, but they still sent her home", she said.

But 12 hours later, Connie wasn't getting any better, so Jacqueline rang the hospital and asked if she could bring her back in. They just told me to keep giving her liquids, as that is all they would do at the hospital."

"I rang 999 and she was taken back into hospital. She wasn't eating, she wasn't drinking, I was fighting with doctors to make them see how poorly she was but no one was listening to me, it was awful.

"On her third day in hospital, she was blue and freezing cold, I knew she wasn't OK, but a nurse told me she was absolutely fine.

"I got the nurse to get a doctor, and then within seconds she was having a cardiac arrest. I just don't have any answers, it's just horrible, you wouldn't think something like this would happen in this day and age.

"I urge mothers to trust your guts, a mother's instinct is always right, just because you have a doctor stood next to you doesn't mean they're right at all. She was the loveliest and happiest little girl, we all miss her so much."

Connie had always been a sickly child and out of Jacqueline's three children was always the one to catch any bug that was going around.

She would get ill around once a month - suffering from a high temperature, heavy breathing and extreme tiredness.

Jacqueline was always in and out of hospital with Connie, and was adamant that there was something wrong with Connie's breathing, but she claims doctors always told her that she was "absolutely fine".

In July 2024 Connie was rushed into hospital, where doctors discovered her oxygen levels were low. She was sent home with antibiotics, but 12 hours later, Jacqueline called an ambulance, as Connie wasn't improving.

Connie spent the next three days in hospital, while Jacqueline fought with doctors to get her condition taken seriously.

On her third day in hospital, Connie had had a restless night, and Jacqueline, who had been sleeping next to her informed a nurse that she kept waking up to Connie grunting.

Jacqueline says a nurse told her Connie had actually had a good night, and that her oxygen levels had improved.

But, noticing that Connie was freezing cold and blue, Jacqueline claims she got the nurse to get a doctor, and within seconds, the tot was suffering from a cardiac arrest.

Connie passed away in August 2024 - with the death report stating she died from significant brain injury due to hypoxic cardiac arrest, which is where the heart stops due to lack of oxygen, caused by RSV.

"How could she be in hospital and them not have a clue?" Jacqueline said. "On her death report it was confirmed she had low blood pressure readings, so they should have seen a cardiac arrest was brewing."

While in hospital, Connie was also being given nebulisers, which are medical devices that turn liquid medicine into a fine mist so it can be breathed directly into the lungs.

Doctors said that the likely reason for Connie's cardiac arrest was due to a blockage of mucus, caused by the nebulisers.

Dr Natalie Borman, Acting Chief Medical Officer at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said: "We would like to send our condolences to Connie’s family and fully understand how important it is for families to feel listened to and supported throughout.

"Following Connie’s death, we followed our usual process of carrying out a thorough review to identify any areas of improvement. This included reinforcing with our teams the importance of consistently recording concerns raised by family members.

“As a Trust, we display information to support family members with raising concerns about a patient’s care or wellbeing. We are committed to listening and learning from our patients and their loved ones to continue improving the way we provide safe, compassionate care. If anyone has concerns about the care they have received, we encourage these to be shared with us directly so that we can take action to address them.”

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