Grieving mother reveals how her six-year-old daughter died two days after being discharged from hospital with tonsillitis

• Magdalena Wisniewska, 26, of Margate, insisted her daughter Maya was unwell 
• The six-year-old had collapsed twice – including once at hospital 
• The tragic primary school child told her mother ‘Mummy, I think I’m going to die’ 

A six-year-old girl died in her stepfather’s arms two days after she was discharged from hospital with tonsillitis, the child’s mother has revealed. 

Magdalena Wisniewska, 26, says she insisted her daughter Maya Siek was gravely unwell after she collapsed twice – including once at hospital – but she was still discharged.

And the tragic youngster heartbreakingly told her mother ‘Mummy, I think I’m going to die’ just 24 hours before her death. 

The ‘kind and helpful’ primary school child died in her stepfather Raj Blande’s arms, shortly before Christmas last year.

Her heart stopped beating after she suffered acute myocardial necrosis – death of the organ’s cells – and pathologists have been unable to establish why.

A paediatric consultant responsible for safeguarding children told Maya’s family it was likely triggered by sepsis.

Now her mother is calling for someone to take responsibility for her daughter’s death.

She said she has barely left the house since losing her daughter on December 21 2023, who has also left behind her six year old brother, Nathan.

Magdalena Wisniewska, 26, insisted her daughter Maya Siek, 6, was gravely unwell after she collapsed twice – including once at hospital

The family were looking forward to Christmas at home when Maya fell ill on December 18. The family have decided to keep the Christmas tree Maya decorated in her last days in their living room

The family have decided to keep the Christmas tree Maya decorated in her last days in their living room. 

Ms Wisniewska, of Margate, Kent, said: ‘We were just a happy family with plans and ambitions for our children’s future, but we are not the same family anymore.

‘We completely lost the will to live but we are here because we have to take care of another child, but our life is ruined and will never be the same again.’

The family were looking forward to Christmas at home when Maya fell ill on December 18 – she was tired, weak and cold to touch, with no appetite.

The next day Ms Wisniewska booked an appointment with a GP but, as they prepared to leave their home, Maya collapsed.

She was taken to the The Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital, Margate, where she was diagnosed with tonsillitis.

Doctors told her she could go home with antibiotics but she collapsed again before she was discharged.

Ms Wisniewska said: ‘I asked the doctor about Maya’s tummy pain, white tongue, pale colour and her body being freezing cold to touch, but he said this was normal with tonsillitis.

Her heart stopped beating after she suffered acute myocardial necrosis – death of the organ’s cells – and pathologists have been unable to establish why

Ms Wisniewska is calling for someone to take responsibility for her daughter’s death. She said she has barely left the house since her daughter died

‘Maya was also vomiting in the hospital bed, so they gave her an anti-sickness injection and we came back home.’

The pupil at Holy Trinity and St John’s Primary had a sleepless night in which she was given two doses of antibiotics, and continued to complain of stomach pain, thirst and dizziness.

By the morning her mother called 999, scared because Maya was too weak to stand unaided. She was taken back to QEQM by ambulance.

Following a negative Covid test she was diagnosed with influenza and put on a drip, still pale and cold.

By 3pm she was admitted to a children’s ward complaining of serious stomach pain, having been unable to urinate for two days.

Clinical staff reportedly reassured the family that Maya’s symptoms were not cause for significant concern, adding she should be fine to return home the following day.

Ms Wisniewska said she tried repeatedly to flag that her daughter was behaving strangely, even reporting she could see monkeys that weren’t there.

That night Maya again could not sleep and her mother tried to comfort her as she begged for water that was being rationed on a doctor’s nil-by-mouth order.

The primary school child died in her stepfather Raj Blande’s arms two days after being discharged from hospital 

The mother said she tried repeatedly to flag that her daughter was behaving strangely, even reporting she could see monkeys that weren’t there

On December 21, after another sleepless night, Ms Wisniewska raised concerns with staff yet again, reportedly warning them of her daughter’s shaky breathing, discoloured skin and disorientation.

The mother claimed clinicians told her that Maya just needed a good rest.

Staff were said to have taken her daughter’s heart monitor off because they were concerned the beeping was disrupting her sleep.

At 3pm, as staff attempted to take a blood sample while Maya was helped by her stepdad, her heart stopped beating.

Her mother said: ‘After a few seconds Maya went silent and my partner found out she had stopped breathing.

‘At this point no one else even reacted as if something had happened, but [my partner] asked for help.

‘Then all the other staff gathered in our room. They found out Maya’s heart had stopped beating.

‘They started resuscitation to save her and her heart came back for a few seconds, but then it stopped beating again. This time Maya passed away.

‘On the day before she passed she was very pale in colour and she said to me “Mummy, I think I’m going to die”, and I said don’t say that Maya.

A shelf of pictures and flowers to commemorate Maya can be seen at the family home. Her mother said her daughter will be forever in their hearts

‘We asked them for help because she was saying strange things like she could see a monkey moving on the wall.

‘We tried to tell the doctor and the nurse but nobody listened to us. And then her heart stopped beating.’

Her partner, Mr Blande, said he will never forget those moments.

He said: ‘Maya took her last breath in my hands. I just can’t get over it – I don’t think I ever will.

‘There were tons of people treating her but none of them could find out what it was until it was too late.

‘Nothing can bring us our daughter back and I know our lives will never be the same.

‘As her stepdad I just feel guilty as I wish I could have done anything differently, as when I look back the red flags were there.’

Her mother added that Maya will be forever in their hearts.

She said: ‘Maya was getting ready for Christmas, that’s why I’ve still got the tree.

‘It’s always going to be with me because Maya made it.

‘For us Maya, she will always be in our hearts. We do everything so that her memory can still be alive.

‘We have got a bench for her in Dane Park in Margate, near our house, under her favourite tree.

‘We walk there every day. It helps bring back all the memories about her.’

The family met the East Kent Hospitals Trust’s chief executive, Tracey Fletcher, on December 28.

They were told an investigation would be carried out into Maya’s death.

In March an independent consultant paediatrician said it was likely influenza developed into sepsis, producing lethal toxins affecting Maya’s heart.

An inquest into the young girl’s death was opened last month, but was adjourned until September 25 for a review to be completed.

Jane Dickson, the chief nursing officer at East Kent Hospitals, said: ‘I am so sorry to Maya’s family for their loss.

‘We are undertaking a thorough investigation into Maya’s care to assist us in providing answers to Maya’s family as well as ensuring we know where we need to do things differently and ensure lessons are learned.’

She added: ‘We will continue to work with and update Maya’s family as part of the investigation.’

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