Girl, 12, died days after suffering from headaches on family holiday, inquest hears

Tributes have been paid to a “happy, bubbly” 12-year-old who died after suffering from headaches while on holiday in Northumberland.

Gemma Caffrey died in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Great North Children’s Hospital, in Newcastle, on 25 October 2021. She had been suffering from headaches which caused her to wake in the night and was admitted to hospital on 11 October when her headaches became more severe.

On Thursday, an inquest at Newcastle Coroner’s Court concluded that Gemma died “due to the effects of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST)”, which prevents blood from draining out of the brain.

Assistant Coroner Karen Dilks added the “underlying cause of which is unascertained.”

Paying tribute to their daughter following the inquest, Gemma‘s parents Alison and Graeme Caffrey said: “Gemma was happy, bubbly and always smiling. Her laugh was very infectious too.

“She was full of life and very, very clever. She loved school and socialising with her friends. We run our own business and if we ever went away she would come with us - she was very well travelled.”

The inquest heard how Gemma was on holiday with her parents at Haggerston Castle, in Northumberland, when she was taken to Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital (NSECH), in Cramlington.

She was transferred to the Great North Children’s Hospital on the same day, where she later underwent a craniectomy to remove a section of her skull to relieve pressure on her brain.

Alison and Graeme told ChronicleLive how Gemma loved Haggerston Castle and would visit with her family from Hamilton, in Lanarkshire, three times a year - Easter, summer and in October. It was at the caravan park that she first developed her love of horse riding after going on a pony trek at the Haven holidays site.

Alison and Graeme had also booked for Gemma to go on a pony trek at Haggerston Castle during their stay. However, she told her parents she wasn’t feeling up to it, which raised concerns for the couple.

Alison said: “We knew something was wrong because we had booked her pony rides and she woke up on the Saturday and said ‘I can’t do it’. At that point we knew that something was not right because that was her passion.”

She added: “She had just started horse riding in the June. She’d been going on at me since she was five years old that she wanted to do horse riding. I eventually caved in the June and she was incredible.

“By the September she was starting to learn to jump on the pony. Her favourite pony was Sparky and she always said that she wanted her own pony - which she would have got.

“Sparky led Gemma‘s coffin in at her funeral. He was dressed up in yellow.”

Alison brought Gemma‘s cuddly toy reindeer, Ruby, to the inquest, which was also wearing a yellow bow from her funeral.

Following the inquest, Alison and Graeme said: “We feel very relieved that the process is over. We’ve had our chance to ask our questions directly to [the staff who cared for Gemma] and now I feel like we can fight for justice for Gemma.

“It has gone on for a very long time. However, both the coroner and [the family liaison officer] have been very thorough and they had an appreciation of everything that had happened.”

The couple, who plan to set up a charity to raise awareness of CVST, added: “We want to raise awareness of CVST, particularly in children, so this will never, and can never, happen again.

“Headaches are one thing. But headaches waking you from sleep should not be ignored. Any GP should not ignore that. CVST, albeit rare, is lethal. You can’t overreact in those circumstances. If we can get a bit more visibility and a profile we can help another family.”