Mother who overcame sixteen miscarriages loses 'miracle' 15-month-old daughter to meningitis

Fleur-Rose Allen's condition deteriorates rapidly in hospital in a matter of hours

Fleur-Rose Allen with her mother Lizzie Allen

A mother who overcame 16 miscarriages lost her "miracle" daughter in just six hours after she contracted meningitis.

Fleur-Rose Allen died in April of this year only days after she started walking for the first time.

Her mother, Lizzie Allen, 32, from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, initially thought her 15-month-old had a bug but rushed her to Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, after her temperature was measured at 39 degrees Celsius.

“Fleur-Rose was so healthy. She was toddling and laughing the day before she died,” Ms Allen said, the Mirror reported.

“At 1pm on the day we lost her, she was sat on her daddy Matt’s knee, grinning away. By 6pm she was taken to the hospital’s resuscitation department. At 11.04pm she was dead.”

At the hospital she appeared healthy and started playing with toys but Ms Allen had noticed a red rash on Fleur-Rose’s neck which had started to spread.

Within the next five hours her condition deteriorated and she suffered four cardiac arrests and passed away after she contracted streptococcal meningitis.

Since Fleur-Rose’s death, Ms Allen has raised £12,000 for Meningitis Now.

“I want people to remember her. I had 16 unexplained miscarriages in six years before she was born,” she reportedly said.

"Time after time, I experienced heartbreak. Then, finally, she was there. My pregnancy wasn’t easy. They feared she was disabled because the scan indicated fluid round her neck.

“She arrived early and weighed just 4lbs, but she was a miracle. Walking out of the hospital with her in my arms, I was finally a mother.

“And then she was gone. It was heart-breaking.”

Ms Allen is working to increase awareness of the symptoms of meningitis in children.