My little girl, 6, died in her stepdad’s arms two days after she was sent home from hospital with tonsillitis
A SIX-year-old girl died in her stepdad's arms just two days after being discharged from hospital with tonsillitis.
Little Maya Siek's mum insisted her daughter was gravely unwell after she collapsed twice, but doctors sent her home with antibiotics.
Some 48 hours later, shortly before Christmas last year, the "kind and helpful" child passed away.
Her heart stopped beating after she suffered acute myocardial necrosis (death of the organ's cells). Pathologists have been unable to establish why.
A paediatric consultant responsible for safeguarding children told Maya's family it was likely triggered by sepsis.
Now, her mother Magdalena Wisniewska, 26, is calling for someone to take responsibility for her daughter's death.
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She said she has barely left the house, which she shares with six-year-old son Nathan and partner Raj Blande, since losing Maya on December 21, 2022.
Magdalena, from Margate, Kent, said: "We were just a happy family with plans and ambitions for our children's future, but we are not the same family anymore.
"We completely lost the will to live.
"Our lives are ruined and will never be the same again, but we are here because we have to take care of another child."
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The family were looking forward to Christmas at home when, on December 18, Maya began to feel tired, weak and cold to the touch with no appetite.
The next day, Magdalena booked an appointment with a GP, but as they prepared to leave home, Maya collapsed.
She was taken to QEQM Hospital where she was diagnosed with tonsillitis.
Doctors told her she could go home with antibiotics, but she collapsed again before being discharged.
Magdalena said: "I asked the doctor about Maya's tummy pain, white tongue, pale colour and her body being freezing cold to touch, but he said this was normal with tonsillitis.
"Maya was also vomiting in the hospital bed, so they gave her an anti-sickness injection and we came back home."
The Holy Trinity & St John's Primary pupil had a sleepless night, during which she continued to complain of stomach pain, thirst and dizziness.
In the morning, her panicked mother called 999 because Maya was too weak to stand unaided and she was taken back to QEQM by ambulance.
Following a negative Covid test, she was diagnosed with influenza and put on a drip, still pale and cold.
By 3pm, she was admitted to a children's ward, having been unable to urinate for two days.
Clinical staff reportedly reassured the family that Maya's symptoms were not cause for significant concern.
Magdalena said she tried repeatedly to flag that her daughter was behaving strangely, even reporting she could see monkeys that weren't there.
Our lives are ruined and will never be the same again.
Magdalena Wisniewska
That night, Maya again couldn't sleep and her mother tried to comfort her as she begged for water that was being rationed on a doctor's nil-by-mouth order.
On December 21, after another sleepless night, Magdalena raised concerns with staff again, reportedly warning them of her daughter's shaky breathing, discoloured skin and disorientation.
The mum claimed clinicians told her that Maya just needed a good rest.
Staff were said to have taken her daughter's heart monitor off because they were concerned the beeping was disrupting her sleep.
That afternoon, as staff attempted to take a blood sample while Maya was helped by her stepdad, her heart stopped beating.
Her mum said: "After a few seconds Maya went silent and my partner found out she had stopped breathing.
"At this point no one else even reacted as if something had happened, but [my partner] asked for help.
"Then all the other staff gathered in our room. They started resuscitation to save her and her heart came back for a few seconds, but then it stopped beating again. This time Maya passed away.
"On the day before she passed she was very pale in colour and she said to me, 'Mummy, I think I'm going to die', and I said, 'Don't say that Maya'.
"We asked them for help because she was saying strange things like she could see a monkey moving on the wall.
"We tried to tell the doctor and the nurse but nobody listened to us."
'I'LL NEVER GET OVER IT'
Her partner Raj said he will never forget the moment Maya took her last breath in his hands.
"I just can't get over it - I don't think I ever will," he said.
"There were tons of people treating her but none of them could find out what it was until it was too late.
"Nothing can bring us our daughter back and I know our lives will never be the same.
"As her stepdad, I just feel guilty as I wish I could have done anything differently, as when I look back the red flags were there."
To help keep her memory alive, the family have kept the Christmas tree Maya decorated before she died in their living room.
They also regularly visit a bench erected in her honour under her favourite tree in Dane Park.
Magdalena and Raj met the East Kent Hospitals Trust's chief executive, Tracey Fletcher, on December 28 and were told an investigation would be carried out into Maya's death.
In March, an independent consultant paediatrician said it was likely caused by flu which developed into sepsis, producing lethal toxins affecting her heart.
An inquest opened last month but was adjourned until September 25 for a review to be completed.
Jane Dickson, the chief nursing officer at East Kent Hospitals, said: "I am so sorry to Maya's family for their loss.
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"We are undertaking a thorough investigation into Maya's care to assist us in providing answers to Maya's family as well as ensuring we know where we need to do things differently and ensure lessons are learned.
"We will continue to work with and update Maya's family as part of the investigation."
