A GIRL ‘nearly died’ after what her mum thought was chickenpox turned out to be a horrific reaction to coronavirus.
Little Millie Denvers, 6, started feeling unwell on December 12 after three kids in her class contracted chickenpox.
Millie Denvers, 6, was taken to hospital after having a reaction to coronavirus
The 6-year-old was put in a coma for two days
Three kids in her class had chickenpox
Millie had a few spots, looked pale, started vomiting and burning up with a temperature of 39.9 degrees – and spent all night crying in pain.
Her mum Elizabeth Denver, 36, was concerned that the spots she thought were chickenpox were not blistering, and called her GP.
She was advised to call for an ambulance and did so – but she took little Millie to hospital herself as the wait time was too long.
Millie was admitted to Worthing hospital – and was then transferred in an induced coma to Southampton hospital.
She remained in the coma for two days.
Staff at the hospital told Elizabeth and dad, Glen, 40, that Millie had a condition called Pims TS – a reaction to coronavirus which she must have carried a couple of weeks before with no symptoms.
Elizabeth said: “I was really freaking out.
“My mum is a nurse, and when I phoned her from the hospital to tell her what was happening she started crying, then I knew things were really serious.
“Before they put her in the coma Glen asked if she could die, and the nurse said it wasn’t looking good but couldn’t actually say.
“We had no idea she had carried Covid.
“Until she got sick on Saturday 12 she had been completely normal, and she’s a really active little girl.
“She had been going to school and doing everything she usually did.
“All her symptoms were consistent with chickenpox, one of her sisters vomits whenever she has a temperature, but when the spots didn’t start blistering it worried me.
“She was in so much pain in the car you couldn’t touch her.
“I had to carry her into the hospital and hold her up, because she had gone all floppy.”
Blood tests revealed Millie’s liver and kidneys were struggling, and she was on fluids within a couple hours of arriving.
Elizabeth said: “At first they could see that she had an infection somewhere but they couldn’t work it out.
“They hadn’t seen this before.
“The Pims TS attacks all the organs and bone marrow, her kidneys were very damaged.
“Only 5% of children who carry Covid get Pims TS.
“My own heart was beating so fast and I felt sick, I couldn’t lose my little baby.
“I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“I wasn’t allowed to travel in the ambulance with her because of Covid, I just couldn’t deal with it, I needed to be with her.”
Elizabeth stayed in Southhampton for eight days while Millie recovered and Glen looked after Millie’s sisters Elsie, 9, and Felicity, 12 at their home in Steyning, West Sussex.
He said: “I was worried sick and feeling useless at home. I just wanted to cuddle Elizabeth and my little baby.”
Millie was able to breathe independently by Thursday night, but her kidneys were still struggling.
Thankfully, the little girl was home for Christmas and has recovered quickly and fully with the help of physiotherapy.
Elizabeth said: “It was a heartbreaking relief to hear her laughing with her sisters on Christmas Eve.
“No one knows Covid can be so bad for them.”
The number of daily UK coronavirus cases reached a record high yesterday as 57,725 new infections were recorded.
It was the fifth day in a row the figure broke 50,000 and brings the total number of positive tests in Britain to 2,599,789.
Another 445 Covid deaths were recorded, meaning 74,570 people have now died from the bug in the UK since the start of the pandemic.
Yesterday’s rise in cases is considerably bigger than it was last Saturday, when 35,691 new cases were recorded.
Millie was admitted to Worthing hospital – and was then transferred in an induced coma to Southampton hospital
Mum Elizabeth said she was freaking out during the ordeal
The 6-year-old thankfully made it home in time for Christmas
Millie had a few spots, looked pale, started vomiting and burning up with a temperature
