The grieving family of a five-year-old girl has revealed the cause of her death was a suspected asthma attack.
Emergency services rushed to the Housing Trust on Ballater Avenue in the western Adelaide suburb of Seaton shortly before 4pm on Wednesday following reports of a young girl “unresponsive”.
Paramedics treated the girl at the scene before rushing her to Women and Children’s Hospital, where she died a short time later.
The girl’s great-uncle, Anthony Wanganeen, said she had suffered from asthma for several years.
Mr Wanganeen believes the little girl’s number was in the process of buying his daughter an inhaler when she suffered the asthma attack.
Emergency services rushed to a Housing Trust property on Ballater Avenue in Seaton, Adelaide, following reports a little girl was found unconscious.
Paramedics treated the girl at the scene before rushing her to Women and Children’s Hospital, where she died a short time later.
He said her sudden death had devastated the girl’s large Indigenous family.
“We’re just in shock that she’s gone,” Mr Wanganeen told The Advertiser.
“You can’t expect a five-year-old girl to die of asthma. She was like any other little child, playful and happy.
A coronial inquest will be held into the girl’s death, but police are not treating it as suspicious or linked to domestic violence.
Emergency services received a triple 0 call from 13-year-old Jabar Stanikzai after hearing a man’s screams as he walked home from school.
The young teenager approached the man and noticed that he was holding a little girl in his arms who was not moving.
The man shouted at Jabar to call an ambulance, prompting him to contact emergency services.
“When I got closer to the man, I could see that he was holding a child – a little girl – in his arms and she was limp, not moving or anything and he was screaming her name , I think,” Jabar said.
“When he saw me he shouted at me to call the ambulance, so I ran to the phone box in the street and called the ambulance.”
Jabar called just before 4 p.m., and five minutes later he saw six or seven ambulances and several police cars arriving at his house.
The girl’s great-uncle, Anthony Wanganeen (pictured), said she had suffered from asthma for several years. He believes his mother was buying her daughter an inhaler at the time of the asthma attack.
Jabar’s father, Abdul Ghafar Stanikzai, said he was proud of his son for helping the man and could not imagine losing a child.
“I am very proud of Jabar because he has never been in an emergency situation like this before and he has shown that he is capable of helping others,” Mr Stanikzai said.
“But I’m a father of three sons, and one of my children is five years old, just like this little girl, and I don’t even want to imagine what it’s like to lose someone so young.”
Neighbor Sharon Surace, 67, also heard the man’s cries for help and described the scene as “horrific” and heartbreaking.
“All I heard was this guy screaming, he wasn’t screaming like he was in a fight or drunk, you just knew it was a scream like someone was dead ” said Ms Surace.
“It was a horrible scene to see, to see this guy holding the (unresponsive) little girl in his arms and screaming for help, it’s just heartbreaking.”
Ms Surace, who lost a child in the past, left flowers outside the door of the girl’s home on Thursday as the family were “going through the most difficult of days”.
Neighbor Sharon Surace, 67 (pictured), also heard the man’s cries for help and described the scene as “horrible” and heartbreaking.
Flowers left at site where five-year-old girl died in Adelaide on Wednesday
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said authorities were treating the matter “seriously” and were trying to establish how the child died on Wednesday.
“It’s obviously very tragic when someone loses their life, even more so if it’s a young person,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“Until we have further clarification on the cause and circumstances, we are obviously treating it seriously.”
The Major Crimes Unit is assisting with investigations into his death, which Commissioner Stevens said was usual for early investigations due to the age of the child.
“When we lose a five-year-old child, we want to make sure we have the appropriate resources to establish the circumstances as quickly as possible so we can move in the right direction,” Commissioner Stevens said.
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