Blackpool coroner probes tragic death of 8-year-old Fleetwood girl Lucy Willacy-Brown as inquest begins
Four days allocated for coroner’s hearing at Blackpool Town Hall into death of Lucy Willacy-Brown.
An inquest has heard that an eight-year-old Fleetwood girl died of fluid on the brain after a shunt she had had inserted as an infant became blocked.
Blackpool and Fylde chief coroner Alan Wilson is investigating the death of Lucy Willacy-Brown in September 2020.
Four days have been allocated to the hearing. There are 11 witnesses planned over three days and Mr Wilson has indicated he may conclude on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.
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A post-mortem showed that the primary cause of Lucy’s death was hydrocephalus - fluid on the brain - possibly related to a malfunction of the shunt.
She had been born with spina bifida and the shunt had been fitted at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool when she was just a few months old to control the hydrocephalus which was a symptom of her condition.
The inquest heard that as she grew up, Lucy had been able to lead a relatively normal life, attending and enjoying a regular school but some 10 days before her death, she was sent home from school after complaining of headaches and sickness.
Her mum Nikki took her to the walk-in centre at Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, where she was referred to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Checks, including blood tests, were carried out and she was discharged home and returned to school but several days later, she was found by her step-father on the floor on a room at their home in Fleetwood suffering what appeared to be a seizure.
She was taken to Victoria Hospital by ambulance, where again she had tests, with doctors there consulting with medics at Alder Hey considering her history.
But she later suffered a ‘vacant episode’ at home and an ambulance was again called.
Her family told the inquest they asked paramedics if she could be taken straight to Alder Hey but they were told they had to go the Vic and it was up to medics there whether she was transferred.
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After being admitted, she died at the Vic on the morning of September 23, 2020.
Lucy was a pupil at Larkholme Primary School and so popular there that her unexpected death was “like a light going out” at the school, according to staff.
The school raised £30,000 for a special garden area in her memory.
(Proceeding)