A couple from Ohio is preparing to bury their four-year-old daughter, who simply wanted “everyone to love her just like she loves everyone else,” just days after the pediatrician declared her to have a “common cold.”

Doctors had to work quickly to preserve Maisie Schmidt, who had a common infection that turned deadly when it refused to release its tight hold. She was put into a medically induced coma. However, the preschooler passed away on March 26 after suffering a severe stroke.

Her parents explained their heartbreaking decision to let their daughter go by saying, “There was simply nothing more that could be done.” To find out more about this lovely girl’s awful ending, continue reading.

When Maisie began to sniffle and cough in late March, her parents, Christin Brigadier and Patric Schmidt, hurried her to the doctor.

“We got told it was just a common cold, just take her home, lots of fluids and things of that nature,” her father Patric, of Strongsville, Ohio, said to Cleveland 19.

The parents took her back home since they trusted the medical professionals who said her ailment wasn’t serious.

However, on March 23, Maisie’s health had drastically declined and she was lethargic, so her worried parents decided to take her to the emergency room.

In a GoFundMe established to assist Maisie, her big brother, and her parents, her uncle Michael Brigadier states, “Maisie made a trip to the hospital with what everyone thought would be an in and out visit.”

“It has seized hold of Maisie.”
However, the child’s condition rapidly deteriorated, and she was placed on “multiple forms of life support in order to give her body a fighting chance to come back from the human metapneumovirus [hMPV],” leaving her “fighting for her life.”

The Cleveland Clinic describes hMPV as a virus, similar to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the flu, “that usually causes symptoms similar to the common cold.”

Commonly, the infection occurs by the age of five and presumably, patients undergo a full recovery, which sadly was not the case for little Maisie.

“It’s grabbed a hold of Maisie and isn’t letting go,” writes Brigadier.

‘Torn to shreds’

Maisie was then taken to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital where was put into a medically induced coma.

“It’s not what you expect,” her dad said. “We just thought it was a common cold and that we’d be taking her home the same day never thought we’d be down here.”

By March 24, Maisie was intubated, and doctors continued life-saving measures to help her win what her grandmother calls “the war” that “started in her body.”

“[Parents] are torn to shreds,” Tammy McConnaughy writes on Facebook. Begging for support from the community, McConnaughy – who calls her granddaughter “Pocket” – continues, “Please everyone prayers prayers prayers For our Maisie to stay stable and we get good brews for all tests and her body just needs more time to heal and get back to us (SIC).”

‘One of the most lovable people’

And then on March 25, doctors discovered the preschooler suffered a stroke.

“She went in for a CT scan they said that there was some bleeding on the brain, so they wanted to get a scan of that and in the process of doing so they found that she actually had a very large stroke on the right side of her brain,” her father said.

The little one was then taken in for brain surgery and according to Patric, part of her brain was so swollen it had to be removed to hopefully save Maisie’s life.

At the time, her parents were told that Maisie would stay hooked up to life support machines and stay in a medical-induced coma for “several months,” which was a great potential outcome.

“She is one of the most lovable people that you’ll ever meet,” Patric shared, hoping to soon take her home. “She’s so smart and so willing to help anyone and she wants everyone to love her just like she loves everyone else.”

‘Maisie passed away’

On March 26, her family delivered a statement to Cleveland 19, saying “There was simply nothing more that could be done.”

Maisie was taken off life support.

Meanwhile, Brigadier offered an update of the little girl he describes as “caring, smart, fun and loving.”

He writes on the GoFundMe page, that as of March 27 raised more than $26,500 of its $15,000 goal, “I wish I could deliver a happy ending to this story. I wish I knew the right words to say to ease my loved ones pains and all those who were touched by Maisie.” He continues, “Around 11am today Maisie passed away. Typing these words hours after are still so surreal. I’m in disbelief that this could happen to such a sweet family.”

Brigadier adds, “I am so proud to be your Uncle Maisie and I’ll never forget what I have learned from you.”

RIP little Maisie. We wish family and loved ones the very best in their time of healing from this tragic loss.

Please let us know what you think of this sad incident and then share this story so we can spread some love in Maisie’s memory.