A 9-year-old girl drowned in a bath after her mom left her to search for a favorite toy, an inquest in the U.K. has reportedly determined.
Mia-Ann Myerscough was discovered “immersed in water” at her family home in Bridgend, South Wales, after she had a seizure on the evening of Sept. 12, 2021, according to a record of inquest obtained by PEOPLE. She died the following day, per the inquest, which took place on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Pontypridd Coroners’ Court heard that Mia-Ann had been taken for a bath earlier by her mom Julia, per Wales Online, Mail Online and The Mirror.
At one point, her mom went downstairs to search for her “favorite Danny Dog squishy toy” in an attempt to get her to relax in the bath as she was getting agitated, the outlets reported.
“She was sitting towards the top of the bath in the corner next to her little squishies — her little friends,” Julia told Assistant Coroner Andrew Morse, per Wales Online, “I made sure the tap was turned off and I went down to get Danny Dog.”
She was gone for “no more than five minutes” when her partner Vernon Ward told the inquest he heard a “bump” or “bang” from downstairs, according to the outlet.
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Ward called up to Mia-Ann with no response and then went into the bathroom to find the 9-year-old “partially immersed in the water”. He then called Julia back in as he started CPR on the little girl.
Mia-Ann was transported to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, Wales, where resuscitation attempts continued. She was pronounced dead on Sept. 13, 2021.
The inquest revealed that Mia-Ann had PCDH19-related epilepsy, which is a rare syndrome “characterized by brief clusters of febrile and afebrile seizures with onset primarily before the age of three years, cognitive impairment, autistic traits, and behavioral abnormalities,” according to the National Institute of Health.
She reportedly hadn’t had a seizure for two years before her death, per Wales Online.
The inquest heard that Mia-Ann’s mother had years of experience in dealing with close family members with seizures. She however didn’t believe her daughter was in danger of having one in the minutes leading up to her death, the outlet added.
According to multiple outlets, Dr Alok Gaurav, a consultant within children’s services at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, told the hearing that Mia-Ann’s epilepsy had been “really well controlled” since 2019.
Dr Stephen Leadbeatter, senior lecturer in forensic pathology at Cardiff University, said about the medical cause of death for Mia-Ann: “While we have no evidence she was submerged in water, she was in the water and her nose and mouth were in the water. To me that is still immersion. One cannot ignore that water played a part. I can put it as the death is a consequence of immersion in a child with PCDH19-related epilepsy.”
Mia-Ann’s death was concluded as an accident following the inquest, per the record obtained by PEOPLE. Her medical cause of death was listed as “Immersion in a child with PCDH19-related epilepsy.”
