Mould spores kill girl, 14, in million-to-one tragedy
By A SCHOOLGIRL died after catching a rare fungal infection caused by breathing in mould spores.
Jade Owens, 14, effectively “choked on her own blood” after the inside of her throat, airways and passageways to her lungs were eaten away.
It is not known how the diabetic youngster contracted deadly mucormycosis, which affects one in every million people.
But her mother Louise, 35, suspects Jade’s passion for horse riding may have played a part.
Mrs Owens said: “The infection is opportunistic. Jade caught it because her immune system was weaker with diabetes.
“You never think anything like this will happen to you and I want to make sure no one else goes through what we have.”
On May 20, Jade booked in to see her GP after complaining of a headache and flu-like symptoms.
But the following day, her grandmother – who works as a nurse – suggested she go to A&E after her breathing quickened and she appeared discoloured.
Sudden
There, doctors revealed she was in severe DKA, or diabetic ketoacidosis, which occurs when the body produces too many ketones and turns the blood acidic.
The diagnosis came as a big shock to Mrs Owens, who had no idea her daughter was even diabetic.
“No one else in the family has it so we had no idea what to look out for,” she said.
“Jade hadn’t been well all week but we thought it was just an infection. I had no idea it would turn out to be as serious as it did.
“Her body had stopped producing insulin and her muscles had started to break down.”
Jade, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, was transferred to Manchester Children’s Hospital on May 22 after she responded poorly to being given insulin.
Doctors were forced to place Jade in an induced coma so they could carry out further tests and treat her for fluid on the lungs – and this seemed to work when, on May 27, Jade woke up and said: “I’m starving, can I have a McDonald’s?”
Mrs Owens told how Jade spent “two good weeks” recovering and said she left her daughter in hospital in “high spirits” on June 10.
But the following morning, she received a phone call from her mother who was at Jade’s bedside.
“All she said is that something bad is happening,” she recalled. “I rushed down there as fast as I could.
“We were ushered into a room and the doctor said she was coughing up blood and they were working to save her.Twenty minutes
later, they came in and told us she had died. It was so sudden and unexpected.”
Mrs Owens, who is also mum to Aiden, 17, said: “To go what we have gone through is horrific. I miss Jade every single day.
“She was very tired and had experienced some weight loss but she was hungry a lot, too.
“Since all this happened we have learned more about diabetes – and they are some symptoms of it.
“If only we knew the signs then, we could have done something.”
Jade’s funeral, which featured a horse-drawn carriage, was held on July 10. ANGELINA Jolie took five of her six children to the cinema for the world premiere of her latest movie – the sequel to Maleficent.
The 44-year-old actress wore a one-shoulder number in black by Versace with a scorpion brooch at her hip at the LA event.
Angelina stars in Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, reprising her role in the Sleeping Beauty reboot.
She was joined by her children Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and 11-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
The only one of the Jolie-Pitt clan unable to make the event was Maddox, 18, who is studying in South Korea.
The film also stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning.
It is released in the UK later this month.