Schoolmates release balloons to keep memory of Ruby alive

RUBY AYOUB’s schoolmates released balloons in memory of the little girl who should have been celebrating her sixth birthday yesterday.

Ruby died last Friday after being wrongly diagnosed with swine flu instead of meningitis but her heartbroken family are determined to keep her memory alive.

Parents of children attending La Lycée Francais in Foxrock, Dublin, had arranged for the balloons to be released from the school yard.

Later in the day Ruby’s family held a birthday party in their home in Sandyford, Co Dublin, because it was what the little girl had wanted.

Her father, Michel, said the family was setting up a trust fund in her name so more parents would recognise the signs and symptoms of meningitis.

“My daughter was dying in front of me and I did not know what was wrong with her,” Michel said on RTÉ yesterday.

Ruby was buried on Monday and her family are still struggling to deal with her needless death.

Michel, who is originally from Lebanon, said neither he nor his wife, Emer, knew anything about meningitis.

Both meningitis and swine flu can begin with similar symptoms, including high temperature, vomiting, headache as well as pain in limbs and joints.

Michel said his daughter would still be alive if he had recognised the warning signs of meningitis, including dislike of bright lights, when she became ill last Friday week.

“Ruby was asking to turn off the lights in the hospital’s emergency room and still the doctors did not diagnose meningitis straight away,” Michel recalled.

The little girl lost her battle for life at Crumlin Children’s Hospital last Friday night when her life-support machine was turned off.

Ruby had lapsed into a coma and her heartbroken parents knew there was no hope for her.

Michel said turning off the life support machine was the worst and most difficult decision of his life.

“We had her for six short years but she gave us some of the best years of our life,” said Michel, who described Ruby as a “bubbly” child who loved music and dancing.

While Michel is still struggling to deal with his daughter’s death he is determined that she did not die for nothing.

He wants to empower parents so that they can help doctors make the right diagnosis quickly.

“I want to give parents a grisly picture of the disease and tell them exactly how it works and how it kills a child so fast,” he said.