'We started screaming, please come back to us': Cork parents on losing child to Strep A

Vivienne Murphy, 10, died on March 1, 2019 having been complaining of feeling unwell and having a sore throat in February

Vivienne Murphy 

The parents of a 10-year Cork girl who died following a Strep-A infection have called for parents to be more aware of the disease and for paediatric ICU facilities outside Dublin.

Vivienne Murphy, from Millstreet in north Cork, died on March 1, 2019 having been complaining of feeling unwell and having a sore throat in February.

On February 14, her parents Dermot and Lilly took their daughter to an out-of-hours doctor after seeing Vivienne had a high temperature and rash.

Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, the parents said they were told she had a viral illness. She took paracetamol and ibuprofen but her condition did not improve.

In the following days, two other doctors, including their GP, agreed with the viral infection diagnosis but after five days, and with Vivienne not improving, the Murphys again went to the out of hours doctor.

They were told it could still be a flu-like virus but were told they could go to the emergency department if they wanted to. At this stage, Vivienne's rash was "really angry looking" and her right knee was swelling. She was lethargic and had been unable to produce urine samples. 

That night, the parents took Vivienne to Cork University Hospital (CUH) and while she was being examined by a nurse, Ms Murphy noticed "a little black mark on her right leg". It was the first time they had seen the mark. 

Upon noticing it, the nurse "went into a little bit of a panic mood" and blood tests were carried out on Vivienne. When the results returned, the Murphys were told "your daughter is critically ill".

Mr Murphy noticed that the black mark was getting bigger and they were told it meant Vivienne had sepsis and was going into shock.

The mark indicated that Vivienne had Strep A which had led to sepsis, shock and then necrotising fasciitis, also known as the flesh-eating disease. It is a rare bacterial infection that can cause death.

The Murphys were told Vivienne would need surgery at Temple Street as there was no Paediatric Critical Care Unit at CUH.

"That took hours. We had to wait for an ambulance to come from Dublin with specialists to look after her. It took ages."

At Temple Street, the surgeon had to "cut away 17%" of Vivienne's body in an attempt to save her.

The day after the operation, she went into cardiac arrest due to the extent of the surgery and the disease. 

Mr Murphy told the programme: "There was an alert put out for us to come quickly to her bedside.

"We ran into the room. There were six or seven nurses, doctors, professors there. The head professor was in there and they were trying to bring her back. He was really going hard to save Vivienne.

"At one stage he turned to Lilly and me, and said: 'Parents scream at your daughter, call her back! Call her back! Bring her back!'"

"And we started screaming, please come back to us, please come back to us, and it went back a long time, and he said 'call her - she will know your voice'."

The doctors resuscitated Vivienne but the cardiac arrest lead to brain damage. An MRI scan revealed she was brain dead and that "there was no hope".

The grief stricken parents have raised their concern around the lack of ICU facilities to children outside of Dublin and also said they want other parents to be aware of the dangers of Strep A.

"Cork is a big hospital, and we don't have any intensive care facilities for children, it doesn't make sense," said Ms Murphy.

"If Vivienne's story could only save one child, that's a plus," she said.

Ms Murphy added in a plea to parents: "If your child has a fever, or a rash, be vigilant, these things can change so quickly. Our daughter started off with signs and symptoms and within ten days she was gone.

"We are just begging and pleading that parents look out for these things, don’t be submissive, and don’t ever think that you are being an overreacting parent, because you are not."

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