By Emma Innes A child survived her heart stopping four times in 45 minutes after she suffered a rare reaction to a sore throat - and blew-up ‘like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Five-year-old Ava Mear ‘swelled like a blueberry’ and was diagnosed with a rare reaction to the sore throat bacteria Strep A. The reaction caused her heart to fail three times in quick succession as the infection took hold of her body. Ava Mear suffered four heart attacks after having a severe reaction to the sore throat bacterium Medics warned her parents to say their last goodbyes because they feared she would not survive another resuscitation.
@highlight
Ava Mear was rushed to hospital when she started breathing heavily
@highlight
Doctors at the local hospital transferred her to Great Ormond Street
@highlight
Within an hour of arriving, her heart had stopped
@highlight
Stopped three more times in 45 mins and doctors thought she would die
@highlight
She was only saved by being placed on a heart and lung machine
@highlight
She is still in hospital three months later but is slowly recovering
Although the condition is unrelated to the infection, it meant @placeholder doctors knew Ava’s medical history inside out and were able to efficiently treat her.