![\"Left:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEC_287802321-abf7.jpg\")
\n\t\tOur beloved daughter died of leukaemia (Picture: Marie Fellows)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tOur beloved daughter died of leukaemia (Picture: Marie Fellows)<\/p>\n
\u2018Larissa\u2019s still with us; but she\u2019s not going to make it,\u2019 said the doctor, gently.<\/p>\n
It was August 2024. My husband, Dave, and I were in a hospital waiting room in New York<\/a> \u2013 the doctor was talking about our 10-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n I threw myself to the floor and held on to the doctor\u2019s ankles, imploring her for a second opinion.<\/p>\n But our beloved daughter died a few hours later.<\/p>\n It had all started a few days previously. We were on a holiday in the U.S. \u2013 Dave and I, our two teenage<\/a> boys, and Larissa.<\/p>\n Larissa had been experiencing on-and-off sickness and headaches<\/a> since we\u2019d arrived for a few days on the West Coast. <\/p>\n But a doctor concluded it was either hormonal<\/a>, or a combination of the heat and different time zones.<\/p>\n We then flew to New York for a ten-day return Caribbean cruise with friends.<\/p>\n We had no idea that the next time we saw New York, we\u2019d be out of our minds with terror.<\/p>\n \t\t We had a great time \u2013 but then at a beach club, the day before we would head back to New York, Larissa said she felt \u2018a bit funny\u2019.<\/p>\n She wanted to stay, though, and laid on a sunbed.<\/p>\n When she got up, she said, \u2018I feel really weird. My legs are achy.\u2019 Dave had to carry her back to the boat.<\/p>\n That night, I woke up to Larissa kicking me in the back.<\/p>\n Her eyes were glazed, she kept saying, \u2018You\u2019re a duck! You\u2019re a duck!\u2019. I woke Dave, panicked, as Larissa started singing Peppa Pig at the top of her voice.<\/p>\n She tried to walk, but it was like she was drunk<\/a>. She fell to the floor; we scooped her up and sprinted to the medical centre.<\/p>\n \t\t They took blood tests, gave her something to calm her down, and she fell asleep.<\/p>\n When she came round, she didn\u2019t seem delirious any more. She asked me to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.<\/p>\n Then she asked for her brothers and told them she loved them. Lying with her head on my lap, she said next, \u2018I love you, Dad\u2019. To me: \u2018But I love you more, Mum\u2019.<\/p>\n Then, suddenly, her head flew back, her eyes rolled, and she wet herself. She was having a seizure<\/a>. I screamed for help. Doctors came rushing in; I was taken out of the room, hysterical.<\/p>\n I remember seeing the doctors taking a defibrillator into the room. Dave watched the doctors bring her back.<\/p>\n In hindsight, we should have let her go then.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t The doctors said they thought Larissa had a brain tumour<\/a> and that they urgently had to get her to land. The decision was made to speed up the boat and arrive in New York early.<\/p>\n Larissa was in a medically-induced coma, on a ventilator and covered in tubes. Her blood pressure and oxygen levels kept dropping.<\/p>\n At last, we arrived in New York at about 3:00am. Dave and I went with Larissa as she was taken straight into an ambulance.\u00a0<\/p>\n As we pulled up to the hospital, 20 or 30 doctors rushed out. It was amazing. I sent a message to friends and family, saying: \u2018They\u2019re going to save my little girl.\u2019<\/p>\n They took her for a CT scan, but it wasn\u2019t long after that that the doctor came in and told us there was nothing they could do.<\/p>\n They took us up to see her \u2013 but it was horrific. We couldn\u2019t even see Larissa. Every inch of her was covered in tubes and devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Get it all off her,\u2019 I screamed. \u2018I don\u2019t want it on her! Get it all off her!\u2019.<\/p>\n They agreed to the second opinion I\u2019d begged for, running neurological tests; but about an hour later, the doctors told us they could either do another 72 hours of testing, or we could make the decision to have Larissa\u2019s ventilators turned off.<\/p>\n \t\t They said the early signs were that Larissa would never walk or talk again. At best, they said, she may be able to move her eyes.<\/p>\n Dave and I looked at one another helplessly. \u2018She wouldn\u2019t want that,\u2019 I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n But we knew our sons had to be a part of the decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once we\u2019d explained everything, unanimously, the boys said: \u2018We\u2019ve got to let her go.\u2019<\/p>\n So we made the decision, as a family, to turn Larissa\u2019s life support machines off. We sat by Larissa\u2019s bed, held hands, played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and I sang.<\/p>\n Then the doctors turned the machines off \u2013 Larissa died almost instantly. The only comfort was that it proved that there was no chance.<\/p>\n \t\t While Larissa\u2019s death has now been explained as leukaemia<\/a>, it wasn\u2019t for weeks. I\u2019m so grateful to the charity SUDC UK (Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood) for their support in those early weeks following Larissa\u2019s death, when we had to deal with so much bureaucracy. <\/p>\n We left that hospital still not knowing what had happened<\/a>; it wasn\u2019t until October that we got a call from the medical examiner who\u2019d conducted the post-mortem in America.<\/p>\n It was charity work that saved us \u2013 specifically, The Larissa Foundation.<\/p>\n Three months after her death, I had a dream where I ran into a hospital with Larissa, shouting, \u2018Quick, she\u2019s got leukaemia!\u2019. She tapped me on the arm and said, \u2018It\u2019s too late for me, Mum, but you can help save others\u2019.<\/p>\n When I woke up, I knew what I had to do.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tLearn more about The Larissa Foundation\t\t\t<\/p>\n The Larissa Foundation raises awareness and funds for a number of different charities in support of bereavement services, children\u2019s hospitals and wards, leukaemia and blood cancer support, research and awareness.<\/p>\n Find out more:\u00a0https:\/\/www.larissa-foundation.org.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n I set up The Larissa Foundation, to provide support for other families and raise awareness for charities.\u00a0<\/p>\n The months after Larissa\u2019s death were a haze of grief<\/a>. I couldn\u2019t function for a long time. Dave was a power of strength. Then, just as I started to feel a bit stronger, Dave started to really struggle. It was like we took it in turns to hold things together; our sons too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our work through the foundation helped give us something positive to channel our grief into. I gain strength from knowing that, through our foundation, we\u2019re keeping her memory alive as well as helping others.\u00a0<\/p>\n Because I don\u2019t ever want people to stop saying Larissa\u2019s name.<\/p>\n These days, we\u2019re doing better, but life is still incredibly hard. I want to continue to grow the foundation and make sure my little girl will always be remembered as the joyful person she was.<\/p>\n As told to Izzie Price <\/p>\n Originally published March 8, 2026\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Share your views in the comments below.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Marie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_287940701-3174-e1772706674341.jpg\")
\n\t\tShe fell to the floor; we scooped her up and sprinted to the medical centre (Picture: Marie Fellows)<\/p>\n![\"Marie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_287940819-d70c-e1772706694625.jpg\")
\n\t\tIt all started with Larissa experiencing on-and-off sickness and headaches (Picture: Marie Fellows)<\/p>\n![\"Marie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_287802113-e8c4-e1772706224637.jpg\")
\n\t\tEvery inch of her was covered in tubes and devices (Picture: Marie Fellows)<\/p>\n![\"Marie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_287802147-3865-e1772706257639.jpg\")
\n\t\tWe made the decision, as a family, to turn Larissa\u2019s life support machines off (Picture: Marie Fellows)<\/p>\n![\"Marie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_287940822-32bc-e1772706713239.jpg\")
\n\t\tDave and I took it in turns to hold things together in the months after Larissa\u2019s death; our sons too (Picture: Marie Fellows)<\/p>\n
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