Killer bug heartbreak
A DISTRAUGHT couple have opened their hearts to tell how they lost their daughter to meningitis.
Sara and Kevin Peach, of St John’s Drive, Newhall, revealed how they were forced to cope with every parent’s worst nightmare when their younger daughter, Katie, three, contracted the disease.
“In the space of probably an hour she went from having a rash to being purple,” said Mrs Peach, whose daughter was taken to the Royal Derby Hospital before being transferred to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre for specialist treatment.
The hammer blow came when doctors told Mr and Mrs Peach that they were not expecting Katie to make it through the next day and to prepare for the worst.
Despite this, the brave youngster (pictured) battled on for another week before dying five days before Christmas.
“There was no reason why she got it. It was just bad luck,” said Mrs Peach.
‘In just an hour Katie was purple on her arms and her legs’
THE devastated parents of a little girl who lost her life to meningitis have told their daughter’s tragic story.
Sara and Kevin Peach have had to cope with every parent’s worst nightmare — the loss of a child.
Up until December last year the couple, of St John’s Drive, Newhall, had two happy healthy little girls — Lucy, seven, and Katie, three.
It all started to go wrong, however, when Sara discovered a strange mark on Katie’s eyebrow.
“I thought it was a bruise,” she said.
“I thought maybe she had bumped herself because she was quite clumsy.” The little girl had been sick, but her mother put that down to a bug.
“She’d been sick just a few weeks before but Lucy had had it too,” Sara said.
“I thought it was the aftermath of that.
“It was getting to December and there was stuff going around.
“She’d started school in September so I thought it was just that.
“She was quite quiet and quite thirsty.
“She probably had about three glasses of water.” Sara gave the poorly youngster some medicine and fell asleep on the sofa, cradling her.
“Then we woke up a couple of hours later and it had spread on her eye like a black eye,” she recalled.
“Then I took her upstairs because she had been sick and I wanted to give her a bath.
“I lifted her top and she had got a rash on her tummy so I rang an ambulance.”
Katie was initially taken to Royal Derby Hospital, before being transferred to Queen’s Medical Centre, in Nottingham, for specialist care.
“In the space of probably an hour she went from having a rash to being purple on her arms and her legs,” she said.
“The rash had spread an awful lot on her face.” Doctors told the distraught parents they were not expecting Katie to make it through the next day and they could do nothing but prepare themselves for the worst.
Despite this, the brave youngster fought on for another week, but sadly ‘In just an hour passed away on December 20.
Sara said she still feels numb.
“I feel a bit angry as to why it had to be me, why it had to be her,” she said.
The couple described Katie as beautiful, funny, happy, daring and stubborn.
Her aunt, Tammy Wright, said: “She made everybody smile.”
The family now wants to raise awareness of the condition that took their little girl away from them.
“You can’t catch meningitis,” Kevin explained.
“Between one in five and one in 10 people carry it in their throats.
“It’s not really known why it happens.
“One in 250,000 children get it.
“It just makes all the organs fail.” Sara said: “There was no reason as to why she got it — it was just bad luck.”
They are now hoping to raise money for Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre in Katie’s memory.
“They were just that amazing with her and with us — they were really, really good,” Sara said.
“I think we just wanted to try to help in the name of Katie.
“They could help another child in the area and it’s nice to think that you can make a bit of difference and you can do something to help other people — like these people helped her.”
AMBITIOUS TARGET — FAMILY SETS SIGHTS ON RAISING £10,000
KATIE’S family have set themselves the task of raising £10,000 for the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Friends, relatives and even Katie’s school — Fairmeadows Foundation Primary School in Newhall — have arranged sponsored events to hit this target, which include: A sponsored bike ride from Katie’s house in St John’s Drive, Newhall, to Peppa Pig World, in Hampshire.
The group will set off on August 24 and arrive on Katie’s birthday, August 26.
A walk from Katie’s house to Royal Derby Hospital, then on to Nottingham Queen’s Medical Centre — the route she was taken in the ambulance after falling ill.
The date is yet to be confirmed.
A spinathon at Sainsbury’s in Swadlincote. Date to be confirmed.
A Zumba marathon to be held at Green Bank Leisure Centre, in Swadlincote, on March 24.
A night of entertainment at Newhall Social Club on April 5.
Donna Harton and Leanne Slater will be doing a coast to coast walk over 12 days, starting on May 19.
Aimee Wright, 14, and Chelsie Wright, 12, held a cake sale at The William Allitt School and raised £150.
Chelsie and her friends held a disco for the fund.
The family looks set to smash their target, having already raised in excess of £4,000.
Katie’s aunt, Tammy Wright, said: “I would like to give a special thanks to Green Bank Leisure Centre, which has shown lots of support.
“In addition the bike ride to Peppa Pig World has received fantastic support from Holiday Inn, Stratford Upon Avon, and Holiday Inn, Swindon.”
People wishing to donate can visit www.justgiving.com/Katie-Peach
