Doctors 'missed opportunities' before tragic death of Ryleigh Hillcoat-Bee, inquest concludes

The parents of a little girl who died from a rare disorder have spoken of their devastation at their daughter's tragic death.

An inquest into the death of three-year-old Ryleigh Hillcoat Bee from Blackpool concluded on Friday with a coroner ruling that her death was caused by complications from rhabdomyolysis.

Area Coroner Alan Wilson noted in a narrative conclusion that the hospital had missed opportunities to scrutinise Ryleigh’s lack of mobility before discharging her three months before her death. He noted that this could have led to more awareness that her deteriorating physical state could be associated with a neuromuscular problem.

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Ryleigh was admitted into Blackpool Victoria Hospital, where she had been born, on August 9 in 2021. She was lethargic and floppy.

Her blood tests returned highly abnormal readings. One of her test results revealed that the level of creatine kinase (CK) in Ryleigh’s blood was 300,000 - more than 2,000 times the normal range of between 100 to 140.

She also displayed other red flag symptoms including profound weakness in her limbs and dark coloured urine. She was discharged just five days later with no further investigations, nor treatment advice provided to her parents.

Ryleigh was discharged from Blackpool Victoria Hospital with profoundly weakened limbs and was unable to walk. She did not regain her mobility until 11 days later.

Three months after Ryleigh was discharged from hospital she spent Saturday November 6 watching Blackpool Illuminations and the following day visited a soft play centre. The family returned home where Ryleigh ate fish fingers, chips and veg but after she went to bed she woke up at 8.30pm being sick, the court was told.

Ryleigh eventually settled and went back to sleep but in the early hours of the following morning Caroline woke to Ryleigh crying. Her parents were so concerned about her "raspy" breathing they called 111 and were advised to take her straight to A&E.

Ryleigh arrived at the hospital at 5.20am that morning. Her condition then rapidly deteriorated and, after suffering a cardiac arrest, she died at 7.43am on Monday November 8.

Ryleigh’s parents Andrew Hillcoat, an accountant, and Caroline Bee, a civil servant, said in a statement “We are very upset at the loss of our little girl. We had to fight for a full inquest into her death and it has been a long and traumatising journey."