For months, a 3-year-old's symptoms were put down to a lingering childhood illness. But when the once cheerful Penelope Dunn stopped playing, stopped eating and struggled to catch her breath, her parents realized something far more serious was unfolding. Courtney Sherwood and Thomas Dunn told Newsweek their daughter Penny first became unwell around Christmas 2025.
Like many young children, she developed what seemed to be an ordinary cold. But unlike a typical winter bug, it never fully went away. "Over the next few months, she had started coughing so much at night that she was being sick and lived with a sick bowl in her bed for a couple of months," Courtney said.
As the months passed, Penny's symptoms gradually worsened. Courtney took her to the doctor twice during May and June after the vomiting became more frequent and began affecting her appetite. She rapidly lost three kilograms in one month, Courtney said.
Initially, doctors believed Penny was suffering from a common childhood illness. She was prescribed antibiotics after developing a temperature and was later given inhalers when her persistent cough continued. "They did all the checks and couldn't hear anything was wrong," Courtney said.
"Because she was coughing so much and had been for so long, they put it down to asthma " But Courtney knew something wasn't right. "I realized it was more serious when she stopped wanting to play; when she wouldn't even eat her favorite things because she was scared of being sick," she said. Just weeks later, Penny's condition deteriorated dramatically.
On June 29, she attended nursery for what would be her first sports day. Although she took part, she became breathless after completing a single lap of the playground. Hours later, Penny suffered two episodes that appeared seizure-like and was rushed to hospital.
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