Wick Mum’s awareness bid after teen girl’s death

Shocked: The parents and brother of Jo-Anne Goldring, 16, who died dm1511119a

Anne Goldring, of Wick, was left ‘utterly devastated’ when her daughter Jo-Anne was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in May.

Days later, the 16-year-old year-11 student at The Littlehampton Academy succumbed to the illness, dying in hospital.

Now Anne is speaking out of her family’s ordeal in an effort to make other parents more aware of the ailment.

The 46-year-old said: “Losing Jo was awful. I don’t think I can put it into words.

“She was fun-loving and loved life to the full.

“We just never expected to lose her like this. It’s just been horrible.”

The illness can affect any part of the body including organs, blood, bone and can mimic symptoms of other viruses.

Mrs Goldring said Jo-Anne’s battle against ill- heath started in April of this year.

She initially contracted glandular fever and was taken to Worthing Hospital for treatment.

Eventually, she was released back to stay at her home in Courtwick Lane.

However, Mrs Goldring said her daughter’s health took a turn for the worse.

“She got worse and she just deteriorated really badly,” recalled Mrs Goldring. “She ended up in St Thomas’ [Hospital, London]. She was running a fever of 103 that wouldn’t come down.

“Six days before she died, the doctors said she was the sickest child in the ward but they didn’t know what it was.”

Jo-Anne’s illness baffled medics, who conducted a number of tests, desperately trying to work out what the illness was.

Eventually, they diagnosed her with the disease.

“However, by then it was all too late. There was nothing we could do,” she said.

Right now the cause remains a mystery with the illness affecting fewer than 200 people in the UK.

Mrs Goldring said: “We don’t want to cause panic among parents, we just want them to be aware. Jo did lose some weight before. We just want to put it out there.”

To boost awareness, Mrs Goldring is doing fundraising for Histiocytosis UK and has raised about £500 so far.

She has also praised Jo-Anne’s school and chaplain Paul Sanderson for its help.

Email [email protected] or see the JustGiving website to help.

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