Bella's Smile Was the Best Present We Could Hope for

Cherry and Chris are both 31 and work for the police. They have two children, Bella, three, and Alexa, 14 months. “It was set to be a wonderful Christmas. I was on maternity leave, as our youngest daughter Alexa was only five months old. Chris had booked the week off, so it would be the first Christmas we’d both had off together. Bella was really excited, too. At the age of two, this was the first Christmas she understood. She knew that Father Christmas was coming!

Bella was an active, happy child. But on 10 December, she sat in her high chair whimpering, head down, trembling. Her hands were cold; she wouldn’t speak. I thought it was a bug, so I gave her Calpol and tucked her in bed. A few hours later, she woke up with a temperature, drenched in sweat, and breathing really fast.

I called our nearest hospital emergency room, and they advised us to come in straight away. Chris’ parents stayed with Alexa while Chris and I took Bella to the ER. Bella was sick in the waiting room, and then we were seen by a nurse, who ruled out meningitis, as Bella could move her head up and had no neck pain. We were given penicillin and told it was a virus.

But Bella was sick all night, and by morning she had a rash. We took her straight back to the ER. This time, the doctor thought it was scarlet fever or chickenpox. Again, we were sent home.

For the next 12 days, this continued. We took Bella to the ER four times, as well as to our GP’s rooms three times. Sometimes I’d be so worried, I’d be crying, but Chris and I were made to feel as though we were making a nuisance of ourselves. We were told it was tonsillitis and that Bella would get better soon. Instead, she got worse.