The day before she died, little Milly-Rose Stirrup had been eating an ice lolly and playing on her Nintendo. She was off school with a bug, but otherwise fit and healthy.
A few hours later, she told her parents she had a belly ache and her heart was hurting. Her parents, Shaun and Pip, took her to hospital, held her hand as she was hooked up to antibiotics, and discussed what they'd do once she was well enough to go home.
But, tragically, that didn't happen. Just a few hours later, Milly-Rose died, aged six.
What caused her rapid decline had not yet been confirmed, but doctors believe she had sepsis. It left Shaun and Pip in total shock. They said only the support of friends, family and strangers had kept them going after the loss of their "angel sent from above".
Speaking to the M.E.N, Shaun said: "It doesn't feel real. We woke up in the morning expecting her to be in her bed. She is our only daughter - we put everything into her."
Milly-Rose, who was said to 'love life' and would 'light up any room' came home from school last Tuesday (February 14) feeling unwell. Her parents suspected she'd caught a 24-hour stomach bug which was doing the rounds.
"She started being sick so we kept her off school the following day and she was just playing on her Nintendo Switch doing what kids do when they aren't well," Shaun said.
"She went to bed on Wednesday night and woke up on Thursday morning at 1am saying her belly was sore, and her heart. I felt her heart and it was beating out of her chest.
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"We did what most parents would do and tried to calm her down. At 2am we got to A&E at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. The triage nurse had a look at her and said that everything seemed normal and told us to do the 5ml water challenge to check if she had stopped being sick. We went into the waiting room and there were so many kids being sick we felt we were more likely going to catch something so we just decided to do it at home since the nurse said all her vitals were normal."
It seemed as though Milly-Rose was starting to feel better, and she was able to drink a bottle of Lucozade and eat a packet of crisps on the way home, before going back to sleep. Before leaving for work the following morning, Shaun checked on his daughter to see how she was feeling. He noticed she was sweaty and when he tried to help her up she became "limp."
"I had to catch her before she hit the floor and we knew she needed an ambulance," he said. "Her skin was mottled and she was going a funny colour. The call handler told us it was an emergency, but said we might have to wait three hours for an ambulance to come.
"We just jumped in the car and rushed there from Denton. It was rush hour and we just flew down the bus lanes to get there as quickly as we could. We arrived after about half an hour."
Within ten minutes of arriving, Shaun said Milly-Rose was being treated as a 'worst case scenario' by doctors, who suspected sepsis or meningitis.
"Her heart rate was 135, which they said they weren't overly concerned about," he said. "She was hypothermic but pouring with sweat, so they needed to regulate her core body temperature.
"It did settle down and we thought we were through the worst of it and I considered going home to get her pyjamas. But then after an hour they took her into the resuscitation unit. We thought that just meant she'd be getting more focused care."
"The nurse said they thought she had sepsis. She looked like she was getting tired and in pain. My wife had left the room for a few moments because she was upset seeing her like that. Within 15 seconds of her entering the room Milly turned her head towards the wall and stopped blinking and her heart stopped and the machines started bleeping."
Medical professionals immediately started CPR, and Shaun and Pip were led away from their daughter's room. They worked for an hour before a decision to stop. She was pronounced dead at 1.24pm on Thursday morning.
"It was just so out of the blue," said Shaun. "From the time she had first complained of her belly hurting to passing away was 12 hours.
"The last thing we expected was for her heart to stop. We were just in shock. My wife was inconsolable. We just broke down in tears. You just feel numb and empty."
Milly-Rose's death has been referred to the coroner and further investigations to confirm how her condition deteriorated so quickly from the point of hospitalisation are ongoing. Her parents say the support they've received from the community had been "incredible," and had given them the strength to talk about Milly-Rose.
"So many people have reached out, including people we don't even know," Shaun said. "We can't sit in the house for too long. We just want to make sure everything is done for her and we find out exactly what happened.
"Milly had a bucket list and wanted to go to Disneyland and Jamaica and visit her cousins and see Koalas in Australia. She was lactose intolerant, but wanted to sit opposite the Eiffel Tower and eat cheese. The only thing we can think of doing now is ticking off that bucket list for her."
A huge Manchester City fan, Milly-Rose was said to be madly in love with Phil Foden. To honour her short but happy life, fans of the club are planning to remember her with a round of applause at their next home against Newcastle next Saturday, March 3.
"It would be massive to see her on the screen and for everyone to clap for her, it would be huge," Shaun said. "We are massive City fans and she was in love with Phil Foden. She always said she wanted to marry him.
"Milly-Rose made an impression on everyone. She was an angel sent from above. Teachers would always say if they could design the perfect student she would be it.
"She had been riding a horse since the age of two and was a natural. She could have anything she wanted. She made friends with everyone."
Manchester City fans are being encouraged to take part in the round of applause which will happen in the sixth minute of the game at the Etihad Stadium.
An NWAS spokesperson said: "We like to offer our sincere condolences to Milly-Rose’s family at this very difficult time. If they have any concerns, we invite them to contact our patient safety team."
A spokesperson for Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital strives to provide the best possible care for our patients. The death of Milly-Rose was tragic, and our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this time.”
