A five-year-old girl is dying from Strep A after she was misdiagnosed with a cold in NSW
A five-year-old girl who died just days after being misdiagnosed with a cold was able to save three lives after her family donated her organs.
When NSW dad Justin Sutton took his stepdaughter Cathy to the doctors, he was told she simply had a cold and would make a full recovery.
However, when Cathy lost her voice and began having trouble breathing, Mr. Sutton rushed the little girl to the emergency room, where she was misdiagnosed for a second time.
Hospital staff said Cathy had a viral infection, but in reality she had Strep A, a bacterial infection that kills more than 500,000 people every year.
Within days, Cathy’s condition had deteriorated and doctors declared her brain dead shortly after the five-year-old girl collapsed at home on August 28.
Cathy, 5, (pictured) died within days of being taken to hospital with symptoms of a cold
Doctors told her stepfather that Cathy (center, with dad Justin) had a viral infection, but she actually had Strep A – a bacterial infection that kills more than 500,000 people every year.
Four days later, Mr Sutton and Cathy’s mother Jazz Worobez decided to donate her organs, ultimately saving three young lives.
Mr Sutton, from Bathurst, said he knew something was wrong after they came home from hospital, the first time Cathy had been misdiagnosed.
“The doctors just said it was a viral infection and to keep doing what we were doing and let it run its course,” Mr Sutton said. 7News.
When Cathy’s parents rushed her to the ER after she developed difficulty breathing, the staff tested her for COVID-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
When both tests came back negative, the five-year-old was sent home.
Just days later, Cathy’s lips turned blue and she fell into her mother’s arms. Mr Sutton performed CPR for 10 to 15 minutes before paramedics arrived.
Cathy’s condition worsened as doctors had to declare her brain dead
Mr Sutton and Cathy’s mother, Jazz Worobez, decided to donate her organs, ultimately saving three young lives
Emergency services desperately tried to resuscitate Cathy and took her to Westmead Children’s Hospital, where she was declared brain dead after 78 minutes.
“The coroner found the cause of death was Strep A, and Westmead had discovered that through a simple throat swab,” Mr Sutton said.
Cathy’s illness, if diagnosed correctly, could have been treated with antibiotics.
The lives of three children were saved by the decision to donate Cathy’s organs with her mother to remember her daughter as a ‘real-life superhero’.
a GoFundMe A campaign has been launched to help her family cover funeral costs and has so far raised $6,000 of the $10,000 goal.