Rozalia Spadafora, 5, remembered by family after sudden death, as coronial inquest confirmed

A new bike with a basket and streamers off the handles. A Bluey scooter and helmet. Barbie dolls and a make-up case. Rozalia had been counting down the days until her fifth birthday, crossing them off on her hand-crafted calendar.

Indulged by her doting family with every present she'd written on her wish list, the sight of them all should have made for the happiest day of life.

Instead they represent an utterly heartbreaking scene.

On the day of her birthday, July 4, Rozalia was admitted to hospital where she died a day later. A coroner will look into the circumstances of her death.

Her family says they will never get over the loss of their special girl.

Rozalia's mum, Katrina Spadafora, said her daughter was "perfect". The tight-knit family say she was the "apple of our eye".

Rozalia has an older brother but was also incredibly close with her three cousins. She was the only girl of the five grandchildren and was the "queen of the house".

She loved painting, singing and dancing.

"She was fun, energetic. Just a spark, a special little girl," Ms Spadafora said.

"She was loved by everyone. She was the kind of girl that would make a connection with anyone. Young, old, any age."

On June 28, Rozalia had developed a temperature. Ms Spadafora said they wanted to act fast as she was having a birthday party on the upcoming weekend and she promptly booked an appointment with her general practitioner that afternoon.

The doctor discovered Rozalia had fluid in her ears and she was given a round of antibiotics. During the following days she improved and was feeling better.

But on Sunday, July 3 Rozalia woke up with a puffy face. Ms Spadafora asked if she was alright and she said, 'Yes'. She was excited for her birthday party.

"She had her friends come over that day. She was playing but every now and then she would stop and have a rest," Ms Spadafora said.

Ms Spadafora was concerned and decided she should see a doctor. They were able to get an appointment at 9pm at the Canberra After Hours Local Medical Service. She was told to take some steroids and an antihistamine.

When Rozalia was taken home she had some chips, watched some television and went to bed as normal.

On the morning of her birthday, Ms Spadafora said they were excited for her to wake up and open her many presents. Rozalia called out for her mum.

"I quickly run into the bedroom and she goes, 'Mummy can you carry me to the living room because I can't walk?'," Ms Spadafora said.

"I said, 'What'? And she said, 'Yes, I just feel way too tired. I can't walk'."

Ms Spadafora took her out to the living room and wrapped her in a blanket. She asked her daughter if she wanted to open her presents but Rozalia said she would wait; she was too tired.

"That was not Rozalia, she had a calendar crossing down the days to her birthday," Ms Spadafora said.

Rozalia continued to deteriorate throughout the day. After seeing a GP she was sent on to the hospital for tests. By this point she was unable to walk or stand up.

Ms Spadafora, her mother and Rozalia arrived at the emergency department at about 7pm on Monday. Rozalia's temperature was checked and her sugars were tested and then they waited.

At about 9pm a nurse came to say it would be another four-hour wait and said if Rozalia was not sick enough to be there she should go home. Rozalia was still unable to stand or even sit up at that point.

They were transferred to a waiting room in the paediatric department about an hour later but they were not given a bed. Rozalia's temperature was checked again and she was given some Panadol.

At about 11.30pm she was transferred to a doctor's consultation room, which did not have a bed. Ms Spadafora was given a glass of water, some hydralytes and a syringe and was told to administer it every 15 minutes to Rozalia.

Rozalia was seen by a doctor shortly before 1am. The doctor undertook some checks and agreed to do some blood tests after being asked by Rozalia's grandmother. Her blood was not taken until 3am. In the meantime, Rozalia had been transferred to a bed where she had vomited. Her mother and grandmother cleaned up the mess.

At 6am the decision was made to transfer Rozalia to the intensive care unit where she was put on a drip.

Over the coming hours, Ms Spadafora was told Rozalia had Influenza A and an enlarged liver. She was told Rozalia would likely be in hospital for three to four days. She was moved back to the paediatric emergency ward.

But later her family were told she had inflammation of her heart and she would need to be treated in Sydney because there were no paediatric cardiologists available.

Rozalia was moved back to intensive care where there was a central line inserted so she could receive medications to increase her blood pressure.

Following this "very, very traumatic" procedure, a doctor finally confirmed Rozalia would be sent to Sydney and a helicopter was expected in a couple of hours. This was about 4pm.

"At this stage still I'm asking, 'What's going on, is this life-threatening'? [I was told] 'No, no she's fine, she's in the best place with the best possible care'," Ms Spadafora said.

The helicopter landed in Canberra at about 6.40pm but was unable to land at the hospital due to an issue with the tarmac.

Hospital staff started to make preparations to transport Rozalia to the helicopter but Ms Spadafora said as this was happening her lips were turning blue.

"Things weren't right," Ms Spadafora said.

Ms Spadafora was told "you've got a very, very sick little girl here". As a doctor was speaking to her about her daughter's condition, Ms Spadafora said her eyes went glassy and her eyes rolled back.

Doctors and nurses started to rush in and began resuscitation. Ms Spadafora and the family were moved to another room. Rozalia's father arrived at the hospital.

"They told him, 'We're just trying to revive your daughter'. My husband is a big strong man and he crumbled," Ms Spadafora said.

After about an hour a doctor arrived to tell them the devastating news: "We've tried and tried and she didn't come back and she's gone."

Ms Spadafora and the family spent about 20 minutes with Rozalia before police came to take a statement. It was about an hour before she could return to her daughter's body. Ms Spadafora said nobody from the hospital had contacted her for three weeks.

"We hadn't heard from anyone from the hospital since that night. No one had called us or offered support," she said.

Ms Spadafora finally received a call on Tuesday evening following a media inquiry about Rozalia's death. There will be a coronial inquest into Rozalia's death, with the ACT coroner confirming the investigation in a letter to Ms Spadafora.

Ms Spadafora said: "I'm gonna have to live with this forever. We have to live with this forever.

"My son is forever distraught. He has just locked himself in his room.

"We just don't know what to do."

Canberra Health Services and ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said they were unable to comment on the matter due to the investigations underway.

Ms Stephen-Smith was on Thursday asked if work was being done to improve paediatric services in the nation's capital.

"It is important that sick children get the care from the most specialised and appropriate service for them and at this time some of those services have to be delivered out of Sydney," she said.

"There are very well-established processes for transferring very sick children from the ACT to Sydney hospital through the retrieval team.

"Without talking specifically about this matter, certainly we continue to look to improve our paediatric service availability in the ACT."

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