Tributes have been paid to Stella-Lily McCorkindale, the five-year-old girl from West Belfast who died from an illness linked to the bacterial infection Strep A.
It is understood that she became unwell last week and was taken to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children where she was being treated in intensive care for three days but sadly passed away on Monday.
The young girl was from the Shankill Road area and a P2 pupil at Black Mountain Primary School.
Read more: Five-year-old girl dies from reported Strep A case in Belfast
Stella-Lily is survived by her parents, Robert and Colette, and wider family circle. In a funeral notice, her family described her as “our sunshine, our only sunshine”. She will be laid to rest next Wednesday, December 14th.
In a Facebook post, her aunt Cheryl McCorkindale, said it was an "absolute pleasure" to call the little girl her niece.
"She was a beautiful, sweet, loving and funny little girl who fought so hard to stay with us, she was too good for this world," she said
"Our family will never be the same again. Cannot believe I won’t see her smile again or hear her shout at me for picking on her daddy-her best mate….love you loads wee woman."
Parents of the youngest pupils at Black Mountain PS received a letter from the Public Health Agency on Friday to tell them a pupil had been diagnosed with a severe form of Strep A.
On Tuesday, the school spoke of its "tragic loss" and paid tribute to the "very bright and talented little girl".
It said in a statement: "Sadly, the governors, staff and students of Black Mountain Primary School have been informed of the untimely passing of one of our P2 pupils, Stella-Lily McCorkindale.
"This is a tragic loss to the Black Mountain Primary School family and our school community, and the thoughts of the entire school are with the Stella-Lily’s family and friends at this sad and difficult time.
"Stella-Lily was a very bright and talented little girl and very popular with both staff and children and will be greatly missed by everyone at school.
"To assist in supporting our pupils and staff at this sad time, additional trained staff from the Education Authority Critical Incident Response Team have been engaged and will be providing support to the school.
"We recognise that this news may cause worry amongst our school community and we want to reassure parents that we continue to work closely with the Public Health Agency at this time."
INTO Northern Secretary Gerry Murphy sent his condolences to Stella-Lily’s parents and family, and to the pupils, staff and wider school community of Black Mountain PS at this very difficult time.
Mr Murphy said: “It is vitally important that all schools are immediately provided with the pertinent advice from the PHA and the employing authorities in identifying the symptoms and the appropriate actions that need to be taken to protect pupils, staff and school communities to prevent further tragedies related to this current outbreak.”
SDLP West Belfast representative Paul Doherty has said that the entire community has been devastated by the young girl's death.
Mr Doherty said: “There has been an outpouring of grief right across this area after news broke on Monday evening of the passing of a five-year-old child. This is a devastating loss that has been felt throughout our community and we have seen a huge response to support the family affected.
“I’m on the ground in this area every day and there is a real sense of disbelief that this has happened, particularly at this time of year when so many families are looking forward to Christmas with their children.
“I’d also like to express my support to pupils and staff at Black Mountain Primary School who are still coming to terms with what has taken place.
“Staff at this school put their heart and soul into their work and it’s important that the entire school community is supported in the coming months following their terrible loss.”
Stella-Lily was also a member of the junior girls team at Newhill FC.
Paying tribute on social media the club said: "Newhill Football Club are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Stella-Lily McCorkindale.
"Stella-Lilly was part of our first junior girls team to come from our Skill School. We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the McCorkindale family at this time."
A fundraiser has also been set up to support the girl's family at this difficult time, which has already raised over £6,000.
The GoFundMe page reads: "Stella Lilly was a beautiful 5-year-old girl who died suddenly on the 5th of December. The pain her family are going through right now is unbearable.
"We would like to try and help this family by raising some money to help towards any costs and bills they have. Having to plan their child's funeral just before Christmas is horrendous.
"I know it's a hard time of year for everyone but if you could spare any money to help I know they would be truly grateful. Or even just sharing it will help massively.
"No parent should ever have to bury their child, I can't even imagine the pain they are in."
Elsewhere in Co Down, two children have also been hospitalised, a primary school principal said.
Michael Peacock, principal of Brackenagh West Primary School Primary School close to Kilkeel, said one child from his school remained in hospital on Tuesday. He said 34 children out of 48 were off school that day.
"Every winter we will see quite a level of sickness at various stages, and over the last couple of weeks we have had that as usual but we have noticed last week the numbers were probably higher than normal," he told the BBC.
"Children were starting off with a sore stomach quite a lot, they were having a temperature, they were feeling unwell, aches and pains, in many cases it sounded a little bit like the flu, but on Monday morning we discovered that quite a number of children had confirmed cases of either strep A or scarlet fever, it's spreading quite quickly.
"At break time yesterday (Monday), I was told that two of our children had been hospitalised, so at that point I immediately contacted all of the parents, made them aware of our concerns that this was something that was potentially more serious.
"We still have a child in hospital today (Tuesday). I've been told that the child is on oxygen and is still quite poorly, and hasn't been well since yesterday. We're just praying for the child that he will be fine."
Eight more children in Great Britain have also died with a form of Strep A.
READ NEXT:
Strep A signs and symptoms parents should be on the look out for
NI GP on what symptoms to look out for amid rising Scarlet fever and Strep A cases among kids
Scarlet fever warning after clusters of outbreaks in NI schools and nurseries
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
