The family of a five-year-old girl who passed away from a fatal brain condition have honoured their ‘wonderful and creative’ little girl in a heartwarming tribute.
Maryama Hussein, 5, was moved to Birmingham Children’s Hospital after her family suspected she had a ‘tummy bug’.
Maryama started having headaches, fever and stomach pain in September last year. On her visit to the hospital, doctors found the young girl was in fact suffering from a rare brain condition.
After almost a two hour wait in A&E, doctors conducted an initial assessment on Maryama. She later died after developing fluid in her brain from acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.
An investigation found there were “gaps in her care”, including a delay in admitting her to the intensive care unit and delays in seizure control.
Paying tribute to his daughter after her inquest, Mohamoud Hussein, told Coventry Live : “Over the last few months, the passing of Maryama has been extremely painful for us to deal with as a family. Her unexpected death has left a massive hole in our lives.
“Maryama was only with us for a short time but she made us the happiest people in the world. She was just wonderful and creative and she was beautiful inside and outside.
“She was the sweetest, most caring child you could ever meet. She will forever be missed dearly by everyone that loves her.”
Maryama’s family, from Newtown, said they want to ensure “mistakes” are not repeated with anyone else receiving care at the hospital, saying that “lessons” should be learnt.
He added: “We were perplexed, they did admit there were failures but there was no causal link between the mistakes that were made and her passing away. Obviously, it won’t bring Maryama back, but we understand.
“We still live in Birmingham and we want the hospital to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. The mistakes that were made should be lessons for the hospital and the trust.”
Maryama’s family described her as a happy, fit and sociable girl before she developed ‘tummy bug’ symptoms, including vomiting and headaches.
They tried to book her a GP appointment on September 29, but were told she could not be admitted to the surgery because her high temperature might mean she had covid.
After the appointment, Maryama was admitted to the Emergency Department of Birmingham Children’s Hospital displaying all the previous symptoms but also bouts of unconsciousness and seizures.
In her initial triage, she was ‘incorrectly’ assessed as being well enough to wait, the inquest was told.
She was eventually treated for acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and given antibiotics to cover the possibility of bacterial infection of the central nervous system, which presents with similar symptoms.
However, her condition had deteriorated the next day as the young girl experienced further seizures and bouts of unconsciousness.
Those symptoms seemed to abate for a while but recommenced in the early hours of October 1. It took another full day for Maryama to be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Flaws have been identified in the hospital use of their anti-seizure pathway and treatment, the inquest heard.
Her parents had a meeting with the hospital to discuss their concerns and were told that an internal investigation would be performed because of the delay in admitting Maryama to ICU.
Shortly after an unsuccessful attempt to perform a brain stem test, Maryama was pronounced brain dead, and her devastated parents gave their consent for life support to be terminated on October 12.
The internal investigation into Maryama’s treatment highlighted failures in the triage system, the ICU admission system and delays in seizure control.
Following the inquest family solicitors Shoosmiths said: “We welcome the above acknowledgement of failings in care but will be closely considering Maryama’s cause of death with our own experts and commissioning an independent report.
“We will be continuing with our investigations given the severity of the errors and the changes to practices and procedures that are being considered by the trust at the moment. We hope that these changes will prevent a similar outcome for another family.”
Birmingham Children’s Hospital has vowed to act following the gaps in Maryama’s care. Dr Fiona Reynolds, the Chief Medical Officer, said: “We would like to share our sincere sympathies with the family at the sad death of Maryama and reassure them that we will act on what they have told us we could have been done differently in her care.”
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