A 10-year-old girl found dead on the sofa hours after she felt ill

A devastated mother has shared her heartbreak after her 10-year-old daughter was found dead on the family sofa. Shaylisha Morrison was found passed out last month at her home.

Mum Debbie told how she initially thought her daughter was asleep when her frantic husband urged her to call an ambulance because Shaylisha was “not breathing”. The day before her death, on May 30, Debbie advised her daughter to rest after she began to feel sick and vomit.

In a tragic twist, Chardonnay, Shaylisha’s twin sister, was hospitalized shortly after the sudden loss. Debbie said both girls were born with intestinal problems, which may have contributed to Shaylisha’s premature death.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Debbie said: “She was at school on Tuesday. She came home and we went shopping. She was running around BandM and playing hide and seek with her brother. I got home and she her brother was following her around the house and playing with her sister.”

She added: “On Wednesday, out of the blue, she started being sick and had the runs. On Thursday, he left.”

She revealed that the night before Shaylisha’s death, she was suffering from severe pain along with stomach pain. The young woman managed to sleep a little and continued to vomit the next day.

Shaylisha’s parents were alarmed when she felt unwell, so they laid her down on the sofa at their home in Ainsworth, Bury, to rest. Later that evening, her father Eddie discovered her lifeless body.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Debbie said. “I thought she was playing. My husband yelled ‘get an ambulance, she’s not breathing’. I picked her up and she just fell over. That’s when I knew.”

In a frantic attempt to help, Debbie sought help from neighbours, who tried to revive Shaylisha with CPR until paramedics arrived, but tragically they were unable to save her.

“It still doesn’t feel real, I still don’t think she’s gone,” Debbie said. “It’s something I never thought would happen.”

Debbie explained that Shaylisha and her twin sister, born prematurely, both had intestinal problems from birth, often suffering from stomach pains and constipation, which Debbie suspects may be linked to Shaylisha’s death. With an initial post-mortem failing to establish the cause of death, Debbie is desperate for answers, with an inquest to begin at Rochdale Coroners Court on Friday (June 21).

The family’s struggle worsened when Shaylisha’s twin, Chardonnay, was hospitalized on June 3, days after Shaylisha died. She remains in stable condition under medical care.

“I was at the hospital 24 hours a day,” Debbie said. “I haven’t had time to grieve properly. It’s a concern that it could happen to her. They both suffered with the same thing.

“There’s a lot of anxiety and stress. I can’t sleep well, it’s like I’m in a dream I can’t get out of.”

Debbie remembered Shaylisha as a “happy little girl”. “He was always smiling and wanted to help others,” she added. “She was a lovely bubbly child. She and her twin sister were inseparable, they did everything together.”

Shaylisha’s family and friends have since set up a fundraiser to help with funeral expenses. “We’re trying to give him the break he deserves,” Debbie said. “She always dreamed of being Elsa from Frozen, so we wanted to get her white horses and a white carriage.

“I never thought I would have to plan a funeral for my own child. I would understand if we had a diagnosis and she was terminally ill. We would have had time to understand each other, but when all of a sudden she’s gone, it’s hard to process that.”