Hampshire girl, 2, had cardiac arrest 'week after swallowing toilet cleaner'

A two-year-old girl feared to have swallowed toilet cleaner was declared well enough to leave hospital a week before she died, an inquest has heard.

Arietta-Grace Barnett was taken to Southampton General Hospital after she began vomiting a "bright pink" liquid.

Her mother took her in from their Sarisbury Green home on 28 June, 2019.

The Winchester hearing was told medics had discharged her on 2 July believing her condition was improving, but she was readmitted on 9 July when she died.

Coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said Arietta-Grace was believed to have swallowed a Toilet Duck capsule upstairs, while her mother was downstairs.

She was declared well enough to leave hospital on July 2 before attending an outpatient appointment the following day.

But after the youngster began bleeding and suffered cardiac arrest on July 9, she was readmitted to hospital and died that day.

Ms Rhodes-Kemp said it was unclear why the vomit was pink when the Toilet Duck capsule Arietta-Grace was suspected to have swallowed was a blue-green colour.

She said Arietta-Grace's mother Lucy Cook had pink hair at the time but she had told doctors there was no hair dye in the house.

Dr Nicola Trevelyan, consultant paediatrician at Southampton General Hospital, said: "We couldn't make sense of why the vomit was bright pink."

She said no-one had seen Arietta-Grace swallow the capsule, but added "products that look like sweets will attract children to play with them".

Dr Trevelyan said although Arietta-Grace continued to have difficulty taking on fluids and food while she was in hospital, she later stopped vomiting and her condition appeared to improve.

The inquest continues.