“I knew she’d been dead for quite some time”

At around 9 a.m. on December 28, Rachael found Lila unresponsive in bed.

She called 999, performed CPR, and waited for paramedics. But it was too late. Her daughter had died just hours after being sent home.

“I knew she’d been dead for quite some time,” Rachael said. “The paramedics arrived within five minutes and they couldn’t do anything.”

A post-mortem confirmed what Rachael had feared from the beginning: Lila had pneumococcal meningitis — and it killed her.

The inquest that followed painted a devastating picture of missed opportunities and systemic failures. Jurors concluded that Lila’s death was preventable — and that neglect played a role.

“Had Lila been admitted to hospital and given broad spectrum antibiotics within the first hour of being triaged, this would have prevented Lila’s death,” the jury’s statement read.

For 17 months, Rachael and Lila’s father, Darren Marsland, waited for answers. When the inquest finally concluded, the word they had dreaded became official: neglect.

“Hearing the word ‘neglect’ is something a parent should never have to hear,” Rachael said outside the courtroom, according to Manchester Evening News. “We are now left with the devastating loss of our daughter for the rest of our lives.”