Boy dies in front of family hours after doctor said he ‘just had a virus’

After being told his sore throat was due to a virus, he passed away just hours later.

Frankie-Rae Law, 11, was sent by his mother to the local GP where he was told a virus was causing his sore throat.

Hours later, he told his mum, 33-year-old Keleigh Law, that he couldn’t breathe. He then went silent within two minutes.

After following her son to the bathroom, she found his lips went grey and his eyes glazed over, as he was slumped over the toilet.

Frankie-Rae passed away in the early hours of Saturday, November 15, in spite of efforts from paramedics and doctors, while his family don’t know the cause of their son’s tragic death yet.

"He came to the living room gasping for air and the absolute sheer horror on his face was insane”, said Keleigh, the boy’s mum.

"He told me ‘I can’t breathe’. He is pacing up and down because he was so scared and within two minutes he went eerily silent.

"I followed him to where he was because it was so silent.

"He was in the bathroom slumped over the toilet, his lips were grey, his eyes were glazed over and I was shaking him to wake him up.

"My mum burst through the front door and started CPR on him for 30 minutes.

"She got him back for a couple of seconds where his lips went pink and he’d opened his eyes and a bit of spit came out.

"But then he had gone again."

According to the mother, the day he died was just a normal and usual day for him.

He had been laughing and playing like normal - before telling her 'I can't breathe' and being found slumped over.

She said: "He was still awake at 1.40am I was in the living room just on my phone and he was coming in, messing around and joking with me again.

"But then it got to 1.43 and he was gasping for air like he had something stuck in it."

Paramedics dragged him through to the living room where they put the DC pads on him - but they said they couldn’t use it because he had no heart rhythm, explained Keleigh.

She said: "They kept pumping his chest - there were eight paramedics, police, the hearts team.

"They said there was a pulse there but there was no heart rhythm."

Keleigh was told by the heart team that he had “very thin” chances of survival, and that he could be left with brain damage if he made it.

Essex doctors at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford kept trying to reanimate him and were quick to do an MRI test.

“Doctors told me there is nothing there and asked if I wanted to sit and hold his hand while they turned the ventilator off. I sat with him, held his hand and kissed him while he passed away at 3.30am in the early hours of Saturday”, she said.

Keleigh, mother of two, said she feels like she "failed" her son and now hopes to find out what happened to the son that she described as a "lovable child".

“I just want to be with my son. I feel like I failed him. He was my best friend”, she added.

"He was such a lovable child and since he’s passed I’ve got numerous messages from people I don’t even know.

"I have just never noticed how loved he was by so many people. His smile literally lit up a room."

The family still don't know the cause of death and started a GoFundMe page to give him a proper send off.

“Doctors have no clue what was wrong with him,” Keleigh said.

“We are trying to get everything he deserves for his last walk.

“In school they have been amazing and they are doing a little memorial area for him.

“There’s over 40 bunches of flowers, teddies and cards given by schools."

Image and story via SWNS