Mum gives heartbreaking account of moments leading up to death of Lilly May Page-Bowden

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl, thrilled at seeing her granny, collapsed and died of a heart attack at the school gates, an inquest heard.

Lilly May Page-Bowden told her mum Claire Page: “Look how fast I can run”, before speeding away from her during pick-up time at Willow Bank Infant School in Woodley, Berkshire.

Heartbroken Ms Page recalled seeing her daughter racing a friend across the playground before disappearing into a crowd – and the next time she saw her, the little girl was lying flat on her back with her eyes rolling back in her head.

In a statement read by Senior Coroner for Berkshire, Peter Bedford, Ms Page described the moments before her daughter collapsed on May 15, 2014.

She said: “Lilly May was pleased and excited that her grandma was there to collect her from school. She said, ‘Look how fast I can run’ and sprinted off across the playground out of sight. As soon as I saw her I shouted, ‘Oh my God, Lilly May.’

“She was lying flat on her back with her arms by her sides.”

An inquest is being conducted to find whether her death was preventable and questions were posed to staff from the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) about clinical judgements made at the scene.

Ms Page said Lilly May suffered chronic stomach cramps which left her doubled-up in pain and were a recurrent ailment along with chest infections and a failure to gain weight – however, no diagnosis was ever made.

Giving evidence at the inquest, paramedic Shannon Jacobs who was first on the scene after Lilly May’s collapse, said she decided not to use shocks on the child as she believed they could make her condition worse – but was later told by an A&E consultant that the print-out from the defibrillator showed shocks should have been used.

An inquest is being conducted to find whether her death was preventable and questions were posed to staff from the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) about clinical judgements made at the scene

Dr Marietje Slabbert, an air ambulance physician who arrived and took over from Ms Jacobs, concluded that the child could not be treated with shocks as it could cause further cardiac injury.

Chest compressions and CPR were given to Lilly May as well as shots of adrenaline and glucose in the form of five dextros tablets on the journey to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, where she arrived about 40 minutes after her initial collapse.

After her death it was established that Lilly May suffered from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) and her mum said the family had been tested for the genetic mutation but without further results.

The hearing continues.

Share This Post