Daisy Young: Barnsley family finally given answers after ‘amazing’ daughter’s sudden death

Daisy Young died aged 14 after she was found unresponsive in her home in Hoyland, Barnsley, on October 12 last year. 

She had been recording TikTok videos only an hour before, but had been unwell for a number of days.

At the conclusion on Monday, October 21, concerns were raised by assistant coroner Rebecca Connell and Daisy’s family about miscommunication and conflicting medical reports, and the lack of information the family had received from Barnsley Hospital following the teenager’s death.

However, Ms Connell said that the evidence heard in the court found that Daisy had appropriately received all medical care available.

Giving evidence, Tim Moll, a Yorkshire Air Ambulance doctor, said he joined paramedics at the scene at around 2pm.

Dr Moll saw Daisy was seriously unwell, describing her as peri-arrest. It was decided the quickest way to get Daisy the next level of medical care would be to take her by ambulance to the nearest hospital - Barnsley Hospital.

While in Dr Moll’s care, Daisy required ‘maximum support’, and septicaemia - blood poisoning - was a ‘top concern’.

Parts of Dr Moll’s report raised concerns for the family, such as his inability to confirm the exact amount of glucose given to Daisy to treat her very low blood sugar levels, and an error stating Daisy was ‘alert’ at one point in the ambulance.

He said: “Medical records should be as accurate as possible. I don’t dispute that.

“They all have to be made in retrospect and unfortunately some errors have cropped up here. It was very distressing for everyone, for yourself as a family, but also for medical staff. It’s very difficult sometimes to then start filling in some records when you just want to reflect. 

“I think Daisy got the best possible care from the ambulance service that she could have got.”

At the hospital, Daisy’s condition continued to decline. Despite medical intervention, she went into cardiac arrest and she was pronounced dead at 3.55pm.

Dad Chris Young told the court he was suffering with ‘guilt’ after he went outside while Daisy was in hospital. He had been wrongly told Daisy had been stabilised, and that they were preparing to transport her to a specialist hospital.

But while outside, a police officer ran out to tell Chris that Daisy was in cardiac arrest. His wife Jane was subsequently brought to the hospital during resuscitation attempts.

Dr Simon Scammell, a paediatric consultant at Barnsley Hospital, said Daisy had not been stable while in hospital, and there had been no decision made to transport Daisy to another hospital.

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He also apologised to Chris and Jane for the lack of support given to them following Daisy’s death. The couple were supposed to have been invited for a talk with Dr Scammell following a ‘child death review’, but their phone numbers were incorrect on their system and so could not be contacted.

He said: “I’m sorry that communication error happened. You should have had an opportunity to speak to me.”

Chris Young said: “It’s a good job that we are a strong family, because if not there could have been a severe, significant, health consequence.”

Professor Marta Cohen, a consultant paediatric pathologist, conducted a post-mortem examination of Daisy. Clear evidence of a virus was seen, but it was not an active infection, meaning that it was not enough to conclude as the medical cause of death.

‘A massive loss’

Ms Connell ruled the cause of death as natural causes, and the medical cause of death as multi organ failure, contributed to by viral infection. Bone marrow failure also contributed to her death.

She added she was ‘saddened’ by the lack of communication the family had received from Barnsley Hospital relating to Daisy’s death, but that she was assured it would be fed back to the hospital. 

Speaking after the conclusion, Daisy’s family said she had been ‘a lot of things to a lot of people’. She was one of nine brothers and sisters, as well as a daughter, an auntie, a friend, and more. She loved singing and dancing, and was a fan of X Factor singer James Arthur.

Mum Jane said: “As a family we have been left without answers for a year. We have suffered a massive loss. 

“The biggest thing for us is that we can go home with some answers.”