Little Amelie's long battle

BY JANINE RANKIN

Amelie Peck loved to sing.

She was starting to copy the songs Mum Jo sang to her, promising a musical future.

A sociable child, she had a wonderful first birthday party in May, surrounded by her favourite people.

The little Palmerston North girl had come so far since battling almost every complication that can beset a premature baby some 20 blood transfusions, eye surgery, a series of infections and a type of pneumonia that nearly claimed her life just before Christmas.

The Peck family shared the story of how the surprisingly strong and happy little girl had survived those challenges early this year with the support of Hope, a group set up in the city for parents of premmies.

But today, Jo and dad Lou have to say their final goodbyes to their first and only child.

Their beloved daughter died in Palmerston North Hospital on Saturday, the region's first life snuffed out by swine flu.

Her Poppa, John Walton, was to lead the service at Life Church this morning.

It was planned as a celebration of her life, with a wide open invitation to attend.

"She loved people, but we were so careful to protect her that we often kept her away," Mrs Peck, a part-time nurse, said.

Amelie caught the H1N1 virus at a time when her parents were daring to hope that after all the life-threatening drama she'd been through, everything would be OK.

She had almost given up her oxygen tubes, she was eating, and growing still just a lightweight at 7.7kg, but that was huge compared to her 660g birth weight.

Her parents never gave up worrying. There was no doubt she was special and needed special care, and they lived a quiet life to reduce the risks of her catching any infection that might lead to complications.

But they thought they'd got past the stage of fearing she could die.

As soon as Mrs Peck realised she was sick with something like flu, she handed over Amelie's fulltime care to her husband a school teacher at home for the holidays. It was the first time she'd been separated from her, but it seemed like the safest thing to do for Amelie's sake.

But then the little girl became quite ill, quite quickly, with diarrhoea and other flu-like symptoms setting in.

She was admitted to hospital last Friday. Swabs were taken and a course of Tamiflu was started on Saturday.

"The doctors and nurses were just wonderful," Mrs Peck said.

But as the day wore on, her breathing became worse, and she died that night.

Later, results confirmed the part swine flu had played in the tragedy.

The Pecks have asked those who want to do something to remember Amelie to make donations to the neo-natal unit at Wellington Hospital or Ronald McDonald House across the road the places that were home for Amelie's first four months of life.

AT A GLANCE

Palmerston North's Amelie Peck was the 11th New Zealander to die of swine flu.

Up to yesterday, there had been 2477 confirmed cases, although routine testing has stopped and the actual incidence is much higher.

While the Health Ministry advises that for most people the illness will be mild and manageable at home, pregnant women and people with underlying health problems should take particular care to ask for help.

Danger signals include if a sick person:

* Starts to feel better, then gets worse.

* Has a temperature of 38C or greater.

* Has chills or severe shaking.

* Has difficulty breathing or chest pain.

* Has purple or blue discolouration of the lips.

* Is less responsive than normal, is unusually quiet, or becomes confused.

* Is vomiting and unable to keep liquids down.

* Has signs of dehydration such as dizziness when standing, not urinating, and in infants, a lack of tears when they cry, or few wet nappies.

* Has seizures or convulsions.

 

- © Fairfax NZ News