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A teenager taken to the doctor by her mother suffering what they thought was flu died of heart failure less than 28 hours later.
Family, friends and doctors are bewildered by the death of 14-year-old Matamata College student Luchan Li a week ago. It could be five weeks or more before they know why she died.
Luchan, who was usually healthy and active, has left behind Jason, her 7-month-old brother, and her devastated parents, Robyn, an accountant, and Steven, an IT support specialist.
Mrs Li told the Herald the interim report from a post-mortem examination showed Luchan died of heart failure as a result of a blood infection, also known as septic shock.
The illness was possibly connected to a case of chicken pox Luchan had two weeks earlier, but no one knows for certain.
Mrs Li said her daughter played piano, took hip-hip and jazz dance lessons, played netball and soccer and was a talented artist. She wanted to be a fashion designer.
The family, who came to Auckland from China eight years ago, moved to Matamata in 2005. Luchan, although reluctant to move, quickly made friends.
"Even if sometimes she was not happy with somebody, she wouldn't use bad words or make bad comments," Mrs Li said of her daughter.
"She would try to understand their point of view. Probably, that's why she could make so many friends ... very forgiving."
In Chinese, Luchan meant "good future", her mother said.
Mrs Li said Luchan was picked up from a friend's home on Sunday last week, feeling unwell. The next morning, she was weak and tired and had a fever.
Mrs Li took her to the doctor about 11.30am and it was thought she had the flu.
Mr and Mrs Li checked on Luchan throughout Monday night. She told them she was fine but by last Tuesday morning her condition had deteriorated. They rushed her to the doctor, who called the Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance to take her urgently to Waikato Hospital.
Mrs Li said she watched in horror as St John paramedics performed CPR on her daughter, continuing as she was wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher.
"Everyone has done their best. We don't want to blame anyone ... Blaming other people won't bring my daughter back, won't make us feel better," she said.
Gary Mueggenburg, Luchan's form teacher at Matamata College, said she was a top "all-rounder" who excelled in all subjects.
She was studying NCEA subjects one year early in Year 10 and had achieved an "excellence' rating in all of them. She was ranked in the top 10 in her year group and teachers had talked about her taking the top prize for her year.
"We'll never know now," Mr Mueggenburg said. "She was robbed from us. She would have been tops. Every potential she had, she was fulfilling."
Students struggling to come to terms with the death had made artistic tributes around the words "Luchan we love you", with rainbows featuring prominently in their dedication because she "had no favourite colour at all - her colour was rainbows", Mr Mueggenburg said.
Students wore bright colours to her funeral and released coloured balloons at the cemetery when she was buried.
Waikato's coroner is investigating Luchan's death but a spokeswoman said it could be several weeks before autopsy results were known.
