Toddler dies on dream Disneyland Paris trip after catching Covid

A toddler died during a dream family holiday to Disneyland Paris after coming down with Covid and another common virus.

Dylan Findlay died just hours after landing in France with big brother Niall and parents Alison and Robert.

A post-mortem examination found the 22-month-old had Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common bug which usually causes mild cold-like symptoms.

Mr and Mrs Findlay, of Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, confirmed Dylan had been refused a preventative treatment for RSV by doctors.

Mrs Findlay said: ‘We’ll never know the difference that could have made to him.’

Dylan Findlay (pictured) died just hours after landing in France with big brother Niall and parents Alison and Robert

The parents of Dylan Findlay paid tribute to their son who died during a holiday to Disneyland Paris. Alison and Robert Findlay were on holiday with Dylan’s older brother Niall

Dylan had been given the all-clear to go on his first holiday in March after being treated for a condition which affects one in 5,000 children. He was born six-and-a-half weeks prematurely in May 2021 and spent three months in hospital with tracheo-oesophageal fistula, meaning he relied on a feeding tube.

However, his condition had been stable for the past year and he loved playing with brother Niall, four, so the couple got permission from doctors to plan a trip to Disneyland Paris.

But on the day they arrived he started vomiting and as his condition worsened his parents called an ambulance and paid for a GP to come to the hotel.

Dylan lost consciousness and died despite the doctor and Mrs Findlay carrying out CPR and paramedics using a defibrillator.

Though a post-mortem showed he had RSV and Covid, he had shown no obvious symptoms.

Mrs Findlay paid tribute to their ‘wee warrior’ after wellwishers donated more than £2,000 worth of toys to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary to mark what would have been Dylan’s second birthday this month.

Mrs Findlay said: ‘Just because his life was short, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good life. Dylan was happy, cheeky, always smiling.

‘We’re just heartbroken to think he’s no longer with us.’ Her husband added: ‘We may have only had Dylan with us for a short time, but he brought so much love into our lives. We’re thankful for that.’

Dylan lost consciousness and died despite the doctor and Mrs Findlay carrying out CPR and paramedics using a defibrillator. Pictured: Disneyland Paris (File image)

The family are also questioning whether Dylan would have benefited from a preventative antibody treatment for RSV, which he had received the previous winter.

Unlike Covid, there is no vaccine for RSV but high-risk youngsters can be given the drug palivizumab, delivered in several monthly injections. Mrs Findlay said: ‘Dylan contracted RSV last winter and if he had not had the preventative drug it could have been a lot worse.

‘Then this winter he didn’t get it, he didn’t fall into the guidelines of those who were eligible and it’s obviously been a lot worse.

‘I think things would have been different but we can’t say for sure. He had no signs of being ill so we didn’t know.

‘But he wasn’t classed as vulnerable enough to have the RSV antibody. It is expensive.’

Mr Findlay, who works at Aberdeen University, added: ‘We want to highlight it was nothing to do with the condition he was born with, it was unrelated and was something that could have happened to any little one. He contracted RSV and Covid and that’s what the initial autopsy showed was likely the cause of death.’

NHS Grampian follows the National Institute for Healthcare and Excellence guidelines on the use of palivizumab. These state it should be prescribed ‘under specialist supervision and on the basis of the likelihood of hospitalisation’.