Aussie girl, 4, dies suddenly after collapsing in front of stunned dad
Millicent's heartbroken parents still have no idea what claimed their young daughter's life.
The sudden and mysterious death of a “happy and healthy” four-year-old girl has rocked a rural Aussie community and devastated her parents.
Millicent Edwards collapsed at her home in Alice Springs in front of her shocked dad Cody on June 14. Just two days later, the preschooler, who loved to dance, died in hospital surrounded by her family and friends — all puzzled by what claimed her young life.
“We have no answers,” close family friend Emma Bell told Yahoo News Australia on Friday. “We had the Finke Desert Race the weekend before and she had a little bit of a flu and was checked out by the doctor — it was very sudden.”
'Loved' little girl just 'stopped breathing'
Millicent was placed in an induced coma at the Alice Springs Hospital before being transported by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide.
There she was pronounced brain dead, Ms Bell said, which was “very upsetting” for her parents Amanda and Cody, who won’t know what claimed their eldest child’s life until a coroner’s report is completed.
“Hopefully they are going to get some answers but for now a healthy four-and-a-half year old little girl that had no prior health conditions just suddenly stopped breathing,” she explained.
Community rallies around parents
Millicent, who spent two years travelling around Australia with her parents in a van before settling down in the Northern Territory, was a “very loved and special little girl” who made friends easily, Ms Bell told Yahoo.
“You don’t really meet many kids like that. You would meet her for five minutes and you would remember her — she was very intelligent.”
The tight-knit community is now rallying around Amanda and Cody as they try their best to make it through such a “heartbreaking and tragic time”.
So far, a GoFundMe page for the young girl has raised just over $30,000 for her memorial, which was held on Friday, and her funeral on Monday. The funds will also allow the family to take time off from work to process their grief.
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