6 year old girl dies after her father puts her to bed
Six-year-old girl died suddenly from a heart condition after her father put her to bed.
David Hutton (38), put Isla down at their home, Ainsworth in Bury, Greater Manchester. He had just returned from a day with Isla, where she had been having a lot of fun on an escalator. This was one of her favorite things.
He felt something was amiss at Isla’s nighttime.
“She climbed into bed but wouldn’t settle down,” he told the Manchester Evening News. “It was just desperation because I knew something wasn’t right.”
Isla died in hospital on October 8, last year.
Although her cause of death is not known, it is possible that she went into cardiac arrest or had a seizure due to a pre-existing condition.
Isla was born with long QT Syndrome (LQTS) in 2015. This is a problem that affects the rhythm of the heart. It can lead to blackouts, seizures, and heart palpitations.
According to the NHSLong QT syndrome, also known as “cot death”, is a leading cause of sudden cardiac deaths in young, healthy people.
Isla can have as many as 20 seizures per day. When she was just two days old, doctors diagnosed her heart condition and she was transferred to Alder Hey Hospital Liverpool. There she was fitted for a pacemaker.
She spent nearly a year in hospital, before being finally allowed to go home on her first birthday.
Isla was released from the hospital and began treatment with mexiletine. The high dosage often caused seizures.
To take care of Isla full time, her father quit his job as a primary school teacher.
“Life just feels so different,” he said.
“It feels like yesterday that she would come and climb on my knee, yet it feels like a lifetime ago. I can see the impact she had on other people and it’s been comforting.
“I was by her side in hospital the whole time. It seemed like time was flying by, but it felt slow. I wouldn’t have wanted her to be suffering. I wanted her happy and healthy when she comes back. She was the happiest little girl you could have ever met.”
Thryv Therapeutics, a Canada-based biopharmaceutical business, used Isla as a mascot. Thryv Therapeutics creates inhibitors to treat a variety of conditions, including long QT syndrome. She was instrumental in helping the company to secure over $15 million for drug research in the USA.
The foundation was also started by Mr Hutton. charity 1CThis network offers support to children and their families with heart disease.
It funded four surgeries camps in India that were run by the Healing Little Hearts charityThe, which offers free heart surgery for babies and children in need of it.
The 1C charity is also involved in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition(EPIC) and the Love the One Children’s Charity.
“While bittersweet, it is a huge comfort to me knowing that Isla’s story has inspired a potential cure for long QT and is helping in the battle against cancer,” said Mr Hutton. “She may go on to save countless lives.”
He is raising money for Great Ormond Street HospitalJanuRun is a 31-mile run that takes place in the month of January.