Toddler dies of meningitis 24 hours after hospital sends her home with a bottle of paracetamol

Kyra Louise Davies was 17-months-old when she was rushed to the A&E department at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, by her anxious parents who had noticed a suspicious rash.

Despite telling doctors that they thought it was a case of meningitis, Shelley Budby and Mark Davies were told it was just an ear infection and sent home - only to lose their tiny daughter the following day.

The couple are now suing Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust, and say their daughter would still be alive if staff had listened to their pleas.

Ms Budby, of Lupset, Wakefield, noticed symptoms last Friday and said: "Kyra had been her normal, happy, laughing self. Then she started crying and getting sleepy. I noticed she had a temperature and had a rash on her chest.

"I rang the doctor, who couldn't come out, so we rang an ambulance and went up to the hospital. When we got there the doctor who looked at her said it was just an ear infection.

"I kept showing them the rash and told them I thought it was meningitis. But they ignored me. They said it was an ear infection and told us to go home and gave us a bottle of baby paracetamol."

But over the course of the day Kyra continued to deteriorate and developed bruise-like rashes in her eyes and on her head that didn't vanish under a glass - a classic symptom of meningitis.

Mr Davies, 39, said: "We knew there was something seriously wrong so we called 999. Within an hour of being back in hospital she was covered in black bruises all over and her body was swelling up."

Doctors decided they couldn't treat her at Pinderfields so Kyra was rushed to Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham at 8pm for special treatment, but at 12:30am on Saturday, she died of meningitis and septicaemia.

Mr Davies said: "They brought her back four times. But the fifth time there was nothing else they could do - we'd lost her. I'm absolutely devastated, so angry. I feel like I've been ripped in half."

Ms Budby said: "My daughter would still be alive if they had listened. As a parent you're constantly told to be aware of the signs.

"We did act fast, but we were ignored. I don't want this to happened to any other child. There's just no words."

An investigation has now been launched by Mid Yorkshire Health Trust. Professor Tim Hendra, medical director for the trust, said: "We would like to express our deepest sympathies to the family for their tragic loss.

"We immediately started a thorough investigation to understand and learn from what happened. We will complete the investigation as soon as possible so that we are able to share the findings with the family."