Parents left heartbroken as 4-year-old daughter dies just hours before first day at school

Doctors performed emergency surgery on her but unfortunately were unable to save her.

Rose had an interrupted aortic arch, which meant that her heart was deformed.

Throughout her short life Rose underwent various surgeries to try and fix her condition.

Rose, from Pool-in-Wharfedale, Leeds, faced her first operation at just three days old.

Her mums Katie and Sue O’Leary-Hall said that she “started to really struggle” months ago and they were holding out for her open-heart surgery, hoping it would make her better.

Katie said: “The last four or five months we were just waiting for it, it was going to be much better for her in terms of oxygenation."

She had surgery on August 15 and then a pacemaker fitted on August 24, with both mums saying they saw great improvements in their daughter.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse when the 4-year-old contracted endocarditis – a rare infection that affects the inner lining of the heart.

She quickly began bleeding out, losing approximately half her blood volume.

Doctors were initially unsure of the source of the blood, though they were able to stabilise Rose.

Unfortunately, the bleeding began again the following night.

Katie said: "They had to go back in again because there was a clot. They were worried it could cause an infection. On the Wednesday we were quite relieved to not have a middle-of-the-night phone call. I went in on the Thursday and it was the worst day of my life."

The mum was told that her daughter had “crashed”.

Katie prayed that she would recover like she had previously yet Rose was not so lucky this time.

“I hoped it would be like the previous two but it was catastrophic. What they think happened is that this infection got into her heart and the tissues began to crumble and the patch they had done in the surgery was crumbling. They had to open her heart there and then because the chest compressions weren't working.”

Doctors ultimately ended up turning off her life-support machines and Rose died, just four-years-old.

Her mums have spoken about Rose’s short but impactful life.

Katie said: "I used to call her my little firecracker. She did everything at 100mph. She was really, really mischievous but also really loving. She did everything at 100 per cent - she cared, she loved at 100 per cent. She was just unbelievable, everyone worshipped her."

Sue reminisced on her daughter’s life: “She was so full of mischief and love and kindness and fun. She was everything on stilts. I can't believe we are organising how to say goodbye. Rose was an absolute firecracker and so spectacular. She left a mark on everyone she met and people felt a connection to her."

A GoFundMe page was set up by her childminder in her honour and it has already raised over £7,000.