A little boy suffered a devastating cardiac arrest in the days before his sudden, tragic death - and doctors cannot say for sure why it happened.
Blake James Mitchell was a ‘happy and normal’ three-year-old, who loved his days in nursery and loved time playing at home with his mum and dad even more, heard Rochdale Coroners Court today (February 21). The joyful little one had appeared to be completely healthy and was meeting all of his milestones, until he experienced an unexpected febrile seizure in November 2020 and in March 2022.
Blake’s seizures were believed to be brought on by high temperatures which would come on without notice, but his parents were advised by doctors that they may not happen again. Just two months later, Blake had a major cardiac arrest and died days later in intensive care.
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Parents Olivia Thompson and Shaun Mitchell, from Tottington, had learned to monitor their young son’s health after the two scares in his early life. After Blake’s previous hospital stays for his earlier seizures, doctors had ruled out the possibility that his seizures had been brought on by epilepsy.
Instead they believed that the random convulsions were caused by sudden high temperatures. But the couple could never have prepared for his death, heard the inquest into Blake’s death today.
“We just had a happy, normal life, no different to anybody else. Blake was always with us, doing days out and trying new things,” his parents told the court.
Almost a year on, doctors cannot find a definite cause for the cardiac arrest, with no evidence that Blake had suffered another seizure which would have triggered the attack.
The family had walked home from a birthday meal on May 12, 2022. Enjoying the late spring, Blake had been running home with his mum and dad.
The young family danced the evening away and spent hours laughing together, the court was told in a moving picture of their final night together. “Blake ran home, he was dancing around the kitchen, being his usual self,” said mum Olivia.
Blake appeared a little flushed, but his parents put it down to an evening of birthday excitement and gave the toddler a dose of Calpol to be safe. All went to bed happy and without any worry that anything was wrong with Blake - the youngster woke up in the night and was put back to bed, as usual, without complaint.
The next morning, tragedy would strike.
Dad Shaun, an HGV driver, left for work at around 6.30am the next day, May 13. He checked on Blake by looking through his open bedroom door, he appeared to be sound asleep as he normally would be.
Just half an hour later, mum Olivia looked at her monitor showing a live video feed from Blake’s bedroom and immediately became alarmed. Blake had moved onto his front, when he was typically a side or back sleeper.
She ran into the child’s bedroom and discovered him lifeless. Ms Thompson described the moment: “[Checking the camera] is the first thing I do when I wake up to see if Bloake is awake. I knew there was something not right.”
Ms Thompson rushed into his room and found him in his cot, warm and limp. The court heard how she rang Shuan, 999, and commenced CPR.
Paramedics arrived and managed to restart the child’s heart amid the horrifying revelation he had experienced a cardiac arrest. Blake was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital before he was transferred to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where he remained in intensive care.
Two days later, on May 15, Blake sadly died. Pathologists found that Blake had suffered brain damage from being without oxygen and circulation in the wake of the heart attack. Trying to identify whether someone has had a seizure before their death is extremely difficult, added Melanie Newbold, a consultant paediatric pathologist.
The pathologists do not know Blake’s temperature was before the cardiac arrest, making it even less likely that they can solve whether a seizure led to the heart attack. Tests also found that although he had not been displaying symptoms, Blake was positive for influenza A which can cause the flu and internal inflammation of the lungs.
Experts say it’s impossible to determine just what role that virus played in Blake’s death, if any at all.
“The cardiac arrest had a devastating effect on Blake’s brain and other tissues as well. We don’t know what caused his cardiac arrest,” said Dr Newbold.
“He was a normal, happy child. It feels surreal to sit here going through it all. We still don’t have a reason as to why it’s happened,” added Ms Thompson.
Senior Coroner Joanne Kearsley found Blake’s cause of death to be cardiac arrest, hypoxic injuries and an out of hospital cardiac arrest of unknown causes. Ms Kearsley recorded a conclusion of death by natural causes of unknown origin.
The coroner told the court: “It’s hard to know what to say to parents sitting here.
“What a lovely evening you’ve had before [Blake’s death]. I hope that’s how you can remember him.
“[Blake] was loved and he was looked after by both of [his parents]. It’s clear you are such wonderful parents.”
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