Stella’s mum Brittney writes,
“It was a Monday night, April 19th, 2021. Our sweet girl Stella was 3 weeks old. She was unusually fussy that evening, but had finally gotten comfortable and started to rest. She never woke up. At 3 am my husband and I knew something was seriously wrong. She wouldn’t wake. She was cold, so cold. She couldn’t open her eyes and her breathing was harsh. My husband rushed her to the children’s Emergency Room and our world went to hell. She had an infection. Group B Strep. While I had tested negative in my pregnancy at 35 weeks and she was a C- section baby, she had contracted GBS from somewhere, someone, something. GBS had ravaged her body, gotten into the spinal fluid (bacterial spinal meningitis) and she fought hard. It hit us like a tonne of bricks when we were told our sweet, precious, perfect little girl was brain dead. We were told she would never look at us and smile. We knew decisions had to be made. On Friday 23 April 2021, at 5:16 pm, she passed. Her due date, as well.
I had no idea what GBS was. I knew I was tested for it and was negative, but other than that, I had no idea just how debilitating it actually could be. Until I lost my daughter to it.”