Ohio preschool girl, four, is taken off life support after being admitted to hospital with ‘common cold’ that triggered a fatal stroke and severe brain swelling

An Ohio toddler was taken off life support several days ago after becoming ill with a virus initially thought to be a common cold.

Four-year-old Maisie was taken to A&E after developing a stuffy nose and cough last week.

When she became lethargic on Saturday, her parents rushed her to a local emergency room before she was admitted to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.

There she was put into a medically induced coma. Doctors discovered bleeding in her brain and determined she had suffered a stroke.

Just two days after arriving at the hospital, Maisie was pronounced dead.

According to her uncle, Michael Brigadier, the four-year-old was infected with human metapneumovirus, an RNA virus that usually presents as a cold or flu.

According to her uncle, Maisie was infected with the human metapneumovirus, an RNA virus that presents similarly to the common cold.

Within days of admission, doctors realized she had suffered a stroke and had swelling on the right side of her brain

Bragadier, the brother of Maisie’s mother, Christin, organized one GoFundMe on behalf of the family to help cover basic costs such as gas and food.

“I wish I could give this story a happy ending,” he wrote on March 26, hours after Maisie’s death. ‘I wish I knew the right words to ease the pain of my loved ones and all those touched by Maisie.

‘Today around 11am Maisie passed away. Typing these words hours later is still so surreal. I can’t believe this could happen to such a sweet family.”

He described his niece as “caring, smart, fun and loving,” adding that she displayed “all the best qualities you could ask for in a person.”

Christin Brigadier posted an update on Facebook on March 24 saying Maisie’s condition was worsening.

‘Her kidneys are not working properly, but that is not the main concern at the moment. Nothing really works right,” she wrote.

Christin explained that clear fluid was leaking from her daughter’s nose and mouth and her body was swelling.

‘She has a spot on her brain scan that could be a stroke or a brain haemorrhage. They took her off the anesthesia and paralysis to see if she could move her arms/legs to rule things out, but it didn’t work,” she wrote.

During her treatment, a ‘heart problem’ developed, so Maisie underwent a procedure to relieve pressure in one of her ventricles.

She was initially taken to a local emergency room, but after becoming lethargic, Maisie was admitted to a children’s hospital in Cleveland.

She was put into an induced coma. What followed was a series of procedures and surgeries as doctors scrambled to save her life

The toddler was supposed to undergo kidney dialysis, but her condition worsened and things quickly spiraled out of control, her mother said.

‘Her kidneys are not working properly, but that is not the main concern at the moment. Nothing really works well,” wrote mother Christin Brigadier

Maisie’s mother and father, Patric Schmidt, announced Tuesday that their little girl had died

On Monday, Christin posted another update after learning her daughter had suffered a stroke on the right side of her brain.

“They will go in, remove her skull on the right side, release the pressure and eventually put her back together,” she wrote. ‘No matter how ill Maisie is, she could die during the operation.’

She explained that Maisie was supposed to undergo kidney dialysis, but “things started to spiral out of control.”

Christin and Maisie’s father, Patric Schmidt, announced Tuesday afternoon that she had been taken off life support.

“There was simply nothing more that could be done,” the heartbroken parents wrote in a statement 19 News.

Brigadier pledged to ‘focus only on the positive things in life’ in memory of his beloved niece.

‘To cherish every moment I get to spend with those I love. To love more deeply and be more forgiving. I think these are all things we can learn from Maisie,” he said.

‘There are so many times when we all remember that life isn’t fair. Maybe it’s just because we overlook all the amazing things we’ve been given that we take for granted. I’m so proud to be your uncle, Maisie, and I’ll never forget what I learned from you.”

Children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible to human metapneumovirus.

It is unclear how the disease is related to the brain haemorrhage Maisie suffered, but HMPV can cause upper and lower respiratory tract illness in those who become infected with it.

Symptoms include cough, fever, congestion and shortness of breath, but clinical signs may progress to bronchitis or pneumonia.

There is currently no antiviral treatment, nor is there a vaccine.