Frankie-Rae Law: Family shattered by 11yo’s death after doctors sent him home with ‘just a virus’

A family has been left devastated after their 11-year-old son died in the hours following a doctor telling them his symptoms were not of major concern.

Frankie-Rae Law had a sore throat on November 14, and his mother, Keleigh Law, took him to their local GP in Braintree, Essex.

The 33-year-old mum was told Frankie-Rae’s symptoms were “just a virus” and was sent home.

That night, her son could not sleep and was still awake at 1am the following morning, The Sun reported.

“I was in the living room just on my phone and he was coming in, messing around and joking with me again,” Ms Law said.

“But then it got to 1:43am and he was gasping for air like he had something stuck in it.

“He told me ‘I can’t breathe’. He (was) pacing up and down because he was so scared and within two minutes he went eerily silent.”

The mother of two then followed Frankie-Rae when he went to the bathroom.

“He was in the bathroom slumped over the toilet, his lips were grey, his eyes were glazed over and I was shaking him to wake him up,” Ms Law said.

She said her own mother rushed in and performed CPR on Frankie-Rae for 30 minutes.

“She got him back for a couple of seconds where his lips went pink and he’d opened his eyes and a bit of spit came out,” Ms Law said.

“But then he had gone again.”

The family had also called emergency services, and when paramedics arrived they tried to put defibrillation pads on him.

“They kept pumping his chest – there were eight paramedics, police, the hearts team,” Ms Law said

“They said there was a pulse there but there was no heart rhythm.”

Frankie-Rae was taken to a nearby hospital in Essex where doctors continued to treat him, even doing an MRI of his heart.

“Doctors told me there is nothing there and asked if I wanted to sit and hold his hand while they turned the ventilator off,” Ms Law said.

Tragically, at 3.30am Frankie-Law died. “I sat with him, held his hand and kissed him while he passed away at 3.30am in the early hours of Saturday,” Ms Law said.

His cause of death is still unknown.

Ms Law said she feels like she failed her son and is seeking answers as to what happened to him.

“I just want to be with my son. I feel like I failed him. He was my best friend,” she said.

“He was such a lovable child and since he’s passed, I’ve got numerous messages from people I don’t even know.

“I have just never noticed how loved he was by so many people. His smile literally lit up a room.”

A GoFundMe has been started to raise money to purchase something in his memory.

Frankie-Rae’s school have set up a memorial area for him which locals have surrounded with flowers, teddy bears and cards.