Tributes paid to ‘bright and talented’ schoolgirl named as ninth Strep A victim

Stella-Lily McCorkindale (pictured) was a pupil at Black Mountain Primary School in Belfast

(Picture: GoFundMe)

Tributes have been paid to a “bright and talented” schoolgirl who died after contracting Strep A in Northern Ireland.

Stella-Lily McCorkindale, 5, had been receiving treatment at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children after catching the invasive infection last week.

Black Mountain Primary School, which she attended, sent a letter to pupils and parents on Friday to inform them about the “tragic loss”.

Her aunt Cheryl said her niece was “too good for this world” in a moving tribute posted on Facebook.

“She was a beautiful, sweet, loving and funny little girl who fought so hard to stay with us, she was too good for this world,” she wrote.

She added: “...our family will never be the same again. Cannot believe I won’t see her smile again or hear her shout at me for picking on her daddy-her best mate….love you loads wee woman.”

(Facebook)

The school said in a statement: "Sadly, the governors, staff and students of Black Mountain Primary School have been informed of the untimely passing of one of our P2 pupils, Stella-Lily McCorkindale.

"This is a tragic loss to the Black Mountain Primary School family and our school community, and the thoughts of the entire school are with the Stella-Lily’s family and friends at this sad and difficult time.

"Stella-Lily was a very bright and talented little girl and very popular with both staff and children and will be greatly missed by everyone at school.

"To assist in supporting our pupils and staff at this sad time, additional trained staff from the Education Authority Critical Incident Response Team have been engaged and will be providing support to the school.

"We recognise that this news may cause worry amongst our school community and we want to reassure parents that we continue to work closely with the Public Health Agency at this time."

A GoFundMe page has been launched to help the family.

It is believed to be the first death in Northern Ireland linked to the current Strep A outbreak.

Parents have been warned by the UKHSA to look for signs of Strep A after the agency said it had seen a slight rise in cases.

Group A streptococcal bacteria can cause many different infections, ranging from minor illnesses to deadly diseases.

It has been suggested that a lack of mixing due to the Covid-19 pandemic could be behind a drop in immunity to infections such as Strep A.