‘I didn’t know I had whooping cough, then my daughter was rushed to hospital’

“Few people will ever know the devastation and guilt one feels and lives with, knowing that the disease your child died from, was caught from you,” NSW mum Sharyn said. 

It was 1997, and Sharyn had just welcomed her second child, Amie, into the world. 

She was a bright and bubbly little girl who instantly fit in with the family. Nothing could tear them apart. 

But after just 16 days on earth, her entire demeanour changed. One day, she was healthy and happy; the next, she was restless and fussy and started coughing.

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Amie was barely a fortnight old when she was rushed to hospital. Source: Supplied

Newborn baby was “screaming” and “gasping” for air

“I took her to the doctor, and he said she had a chest infection,” Sharyn said. 

Amie’s parents were concerned her condition wasn’t improving, so they took her to the local hospital. Her coughing fits were becoming so severe they made her “gasp and scream.” 

“It was heartbreaking, watching her suffer so much, and nobody seemed to know what was wrong with her,” she said. Amie soon developed pneumonia, and the doctors informed her parents they needed to ventilate her to “give her little body a rest.”

“This is a traumatic thing for any parent to watch, so they advised us to leave the room,” Sharyn said. “I had no idea that it would be the last time I saw her awake.” 

When the doctors intubated her, Aimie had a small seizure, followed by a much larger one. Instantly, she was transferred to another hospital with paediatric specialist care. 

There, they spent the evening holding their baby’s hand, sitting with her until 2.30 AM when they were told to go home and come back in the morning, assuring them Amie was “in good hands.”

“I wish I had stayed,” she said. 

Sharyn was woken at five in the morning and told to get to the hospital when she had a flat tyre. “Of all days to get a flat tyre,” she recalled.  

Once she arrived, the medical staff explained Amie likely wasn’t going to survive. “Her body wasn’t responding to any treatment; her organs were failing, and her tiny body was filling with toxins,” Sharyn said. 

“She had had very low oxygen levels for most of the prior hours, and her heart had also stopped several times.”

They called their family to come and say their goodbyes, and Amie’s life support was tragically switched off on 13 April 1997. 

RELATED: Whooping cough claimed my newborn’s life - no baby should suffer like my son

Sharyn also contracted whooping cough. Source: Supplied

Whooping cough passed down from mum to newborn baby

It was revealed on the day of Amie's funeral that she died of whooping cough, the fourth child in NSW to die that year from the disease. 

To make matters worse, Sharyn also tested positive for whooping cough, meaning she likely passed it down to Amie. 

“Although I’d been vaccinated as a child, my immunity had worn off – and whooping cough boosters for adults weren’t available until several years later,” she said.

“Few people will ever know the devastation and guilt one feels and lives with, knowing that the disease your child died from, was caught from you.” 

Whooping cough can be fatal for infants, but it also has devastating effects on adults.

“I have never felt so sick in my life,” she said, explaining she was "extremely sick" for three months. “I coughed, I cracked ribs, I gasped for breath, I soon understood why my daughter wasn’t able to survive this.”

“It’s horrendous for an adult, so I can understand a newborn baby simply being too young to fight this off,” she told Kidspot. 

It was many years after the death of little Amie that the government recommended pregnant women get a booster shot in their third trimester. 

Whooping cough is highly contagious, and due to late-set symptoms, some may spread the disease to others without even realising. 

“One infected person may unwittingly spread the disease to up to 17 unvaccinated people,” said Professor Robert Booy, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney. 

A recent report found that NSW cases have increased five times compared to last year, with cases across the country doubling since 2022.

To fight this alarming trend, Catherine Hughes AM, founder of the Immunisation Foundation of Australia, said parents must get boosted. 

“Research shows that more than 80 per cent of Australian adults cannot recall receiving a  whooping cough booster,” she said. “This confirms that many are oblivious to the need for a booster  vaccine and will likely have minimal protection against whooping cough.” 

It’s been nearly 30 years since Sharyn said goodbye to her little Amie, but she won’t stop fighting for other children. 

“Although it’s too late for my baby and many others, these booster shots can make the difference between a baby surviving or not surviving whooping cough,” Sharyn said. 

“Watching your child die from a preventable disease is not something that I would wish on anyone.”  

Australians can check their vaccination status by talking to a doctor, pharmacist, or by accessing their Immunisation History Statement via the Express Plus Medicare app.

Originally published as ‘I didn’t know I had whooping cough, then my daughter was rushed to hospital’